Bra&forD  Club  Series. 


NUMBER  SEVEN. 


T  Jl  E 


ARMY   CORRESPONDENCE 

OF 

COLONEL  JOHN  LAURENS 

IN  THE   YEARS   1777-8 

NOW  FIKST  PRINTED  FROM  ORIGINAL  LETTERS  ADDRESSED 
TO  HIS  FATHER 

HENRY    LAURENS 


W  I  T  H   A   M  E  M  O  I  R 


WM.    GILMORE   SIMMS 


NEW   YORK 

M   DCCC    LXVII 


SUBSCRIBER'S  COPY. 

Xo. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1807, 
By  John  B.  Moreau, 

FOB   THE   BRADFORD    CLUB, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States 
i'or  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


SEVKNTY-FIVK   I'OI'IKS    I'ltlNTKI). 


BRADFORD    CLUB. 


No.     I.  —  PAPERS    CONCERNING    THE    ATTACK    ON 

HATFIELD  AND  DEERFIELD  .         .         .     1859 

"      II.  — THE  CROAKERS          .         .  .     I860 

"     III.  —  THE  OPERATIONS  OF  THE  FRENCH  FLEET 

UNDER  COUNT  DE  GRASSE  .         .         .     1864 

"     IV.  —  ANTHOLOGY  OF  NEW  NETHERLAND          .     18G5 

"       V. —  NARRATIVES  OF  THE  CAREER  OF  DE  SOTO 

IN  FLORIDA  ......     1866 

••     VI. —  NORTHERN  INVASION        ....     1806 

"  VII.  —  ARMY    CORRESPONDENCE    OF    COL.  JOHN 

LAURENS       .         .  ...     1867 

EXTRA  NUMBER. 
MEMORIAL  OF  JOHN  ALLAN  18G4 


THE   BRADFORD   CLUB. 


UNDER  this  designation,  a  few  gentlemen,  interested  in  the 
study  of  American  History  and  Literature,  propose  occasionally 
to  print  limited  editions  of  such  manuscripts  and  scarce 
pamphlets  as  may  be  deemed  of  value  towards  illustrating  these 
subjects.  They  will  seek  to  obtain  for  this  purpose  unpublished 
journals  or  correspondence  containing  matter  worthy  of  record, 
and  which  may  not  properly  be  included  in  the  Historical 
Collections  or  Documentary  Histories  of  the  several  States. 
Such  unpretending  contemporary  chronicles  often  throw 
precious  light  upon  the  motives  of  action  and  the  imperfectly 
narrated  events  of  bygone  days  ;  perhaps  briefly  touched  upon 
in  dry  official  documents. 

The  Club  may  also  issue  fac-similes  of  curious  manuscripts 
or  documents  worthy  of  notice,  which,  like  the  printed  issues, 
will  bear  its  imprint. 

"  These  are  the 

Registers,  the  chronicles  cf  the  age 

They  were  written  in,  and  speak  the  truth  of  History 

Better  than  a  hundred  of  your  printed 

Communications." —  Shakcrly  Marmyons  Antiquary. 

WILLIAM  BRADFORD  —  the  first  New  York  Printer  —  whose 
name  the  Club  has  adopted,  came  to  this  country  in  1682, 


Vlll  THE    BRADFORD    CLUB. 

and  established  his  Press  in  the  neighborhood  of  Philadelphia. 
In  1G93  he  removed  to  this  City  —  was  appointed  Royal 
Printer  —  and  set  up  his  Press  "at  the  Sign  of  the  Bible" 
For  upwards  of  thirty  years  he  was  the  only  Printer  in  the 
Province,  and  in  1725  published  our  first  Newspaper — The 
New  York  Gazette.  He  conducted  this  paper  until  1748  when 
he  retired  from  business.  He  died  in  May,  1752,  and  was 
described,  in  an  obituary  notice  of  the  day,  as  "  a  man  of  great 
sobriety  and  industry,  a  real  friend  to  the  poor  and  needy,  and 
kind  and  affable  to  all."  He  was  buried  in  Trinity  Church 
Yard,  by  the  side  of  the  wife  of  his  youth ;  and  the  loving 
affection  of  relatives  and  friends  reared  a  simple  and  unosten 
tatious  Monument  to  his  memory. 


MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   LAURENS. 


The  collection  of  original  letters  which  follow  iu 
this  volume,  written  during  the  war  of  the  American 
revolution  and  at  the  most  interesting  of  its  several 
crises,  and  now  for  the  first  time  published,  will,  we 
are  assured,  prove  not  only  agreeable  to  the  general 
reader,  but  a  most  valuable  contribution  to  the  mate 
rial  of  American  history.  They  are  from  the  pen  of 
John  Laurens,  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  a  lieuten 
ant  colonel  in  the  American  army,  a  favorite  aid  de 
camp  of  General  Washington,  frequently  acting  as 
his  private  secretary,  and  highly  valued  by  that  great 
man,  in  every  capacity,  as  one  in  whose  honor,  valor 
and  judgment  he  could  equally  confide. 

John  Laurens  was  a  son  of  Henry  Laurens  for  some 
time  president  of  the  Continental  congress,  subse 
quently  a  minister  plenipotentiary  to  Holland,  and 
finally,  under  commission  of  congress  one  of  the  mini 
sters  with  Franklin  and  Jay  in  the  negotiation  of  the 
treaty  of  peace  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 

States. 

2 


10  MEMOIR   OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

John  Laurens  was  born  somewhere  about  1756,  and 
was  a  student  of  law  in  London  at  the  opening  of  the 
revolution.  His  letters  to  his  father,  uncle,  and  others 
of  his  family,  begin  prior  to  this  period,  and  are 
deeply  imbued  with  the  politics  of  the  times  as  cur 
rently  expressed  in  Great  Britain.  Several  of  these 
have  been  preserved,  though  they  do  not  appear  in 
this  collection.  They  are  all  characterized  by  good 
taste,  a  style  at  once  easy,  natural  and  impressive,  a 
nice  observance  of  the  proprieties,  quite  remarkable 
in  one  so  young,  showing  a  well  trained  and  well 
balanced  mind,  with  sentiment,  thoughtful  opinion, 
fine  sensibilities  and  the  most  ardent  patriotism.  They 
exhibit  also  a  constant  endeavor  at  solid  acquisition, 
and  the  search  for  it,  usually,  in  the  most  proper  and 
profitable  directions. 

From  the  letters  not  included  in  this  collection, 
which,  for  unity,  are  confined  exclusively  to  the  army 
correspondence,  we  learn  that  he  was  at  Westmin 
ster,  pursuing  his  studies,  in  April,  1772.  He  was 
then  sixteen  years  of  age.  His  hand  writing,  even  at 
this  time,  which  subsequently  became  admirably  per 
fected,  for  symmetry,  grace  and  uniformity,  was 
remarkably  indicative  of  character  and  force,  coupled 
with  compactness  and  great  clearness,  showing  the 
attributes  of  a  strong  mind  and  will,  already  under 
self-restraint. 

Soon  after  this  date  he  visited  the  continent,  and  in 
August  of  the  same  year,  he  writes  from  Geneva, 


MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  11 

whither  lie  lias  gone  for  Ms  studies  in  some  of  the 
higher  branches  of  education.  In  1773,  he  reports 
the  progress  he  has  made  in  the  study  of  the  civil 
law  and  mathematics,  under  some  of  the  great  masters 
of  Geneva,  then  one  of  the  most  famous  schools  of 
letters  and  philosophy  upon  the  continent.  He  has 
completed  his  course  in  ancient  and  modern  history, 
as  it  was  then  pursued,  and  has  begun  his  readings 
and  reviews  in  political  eloquence,  which,  at  that 
period,  was  a  necessary  part  in  the  education  of  a 
gentleman  even  where  he  contemplated  no  practice  in 
the  profession.  But  Geneva  was  held  to  be  a  danger 
ous  province  in  which  to  frame  the  mind,  if  not  the 
morals  of  the  youthful  student,  and  young  Laurens, 
writing  to  his  parents,  is  at  pains  to  show  them  that 
he  is  able  to  mantain  his  faith,  in  spite  of  the  influ 
ence  of  great  names,  and  the  authoritative  opinions  of 
society.  He  has  asserted  the  independence  of  his 
own  mind,  and,  while  receiving  information  and  acquir 
ing  knowledge,  he  has  fallen  into  none  of  the  fashions 
of  infidelity.  Even  then,  though  but  seventeen,  he  was 
not  to  be  overawed,  into  self-abnegation,  by  any  mere 
name,  however  potent  as  a  social  authority.  He  avows 
his  utter  disregard  of,  if  not  disrespect,  for  what  was 
skeptical  in  the  teachings  of  the  doctors  of  Geneva,  of 
whose  influence  his  father  might  well  entertain  many 
fears  in  the  case  of  a  son,  at  once  so  bold,  earnest,  and 
enthusiastic.  But  he  had  no  cause  for  anxiety.  The 
letters  of  the  son  disabuse  him  of  his  fears  —  if  he  ever 


12  MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

really  entertained  them  —  in  terms  of  great  good  sense 
and  modest  firmness.  In  pursuing  this  topic,  the 
writer  is  enabled  to  give  an  interesting  account  of  the 
state  of  religion  and  of  church  practice  and  discipline 
at  Geneva,  during  his  continuance  in  that  place. 

It  is  about  this  period,  and  while  at  Geneva,  that  his 
letters  begin  to  display  a  certain  degree  of  doubt  and 
anxiety,  in  respect  to  his  choice  of  a  profession.  This 
is  a  problem  of  great  embarrassment  to  every  really 
conscientious  student;  since  it  implies  the  first  neces 
sary  inquiry:  "What  am  I  best  fitted  for?  "What 
can  I  best  do  ?  "  -  the  choice  depending,  in  the  case  of 
the  honest  mind,  solely  upon  the  endowment.  Young 
Laurens  felt  all  the  embarrassments  of  this  problem, 
the  tastes  and  impulses  naturally  tending  to  that  inter 
ference  with  the  judgment,  which  constitutes  the  great 
difficulty  in  the  way  of  deciding  justly  upon  the  right 
of  the  individual  to  choose  from  the  professions,  or, 
indeed,  to  attempt  the  professions  at  all  —  the  qualities 
which  justify  (with  proper  training  and  education) 
the  entrance  upon  a  professional  career,  being  special 
gifts  to  the  individual,  and  not  the  common  allot 
ment  of  a  race  or  people. 

Laurens  treats  his  subject  with  all  the  ingenuousness 
of  boyhood,  though  without  bitting  the  exact  rule 
which  we  have  indicated,  and  which  requires  that  the 
choice  of  the  profession  must  be  governed  wholly  by 
a  just  regard  to  the  endowments  of  the  individual. 
A  neglect  of  this  rule  is  probably  one  of  the  most  mis- 


MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  13 

chievous  of  all  the  educational  influences  of  society, 
as  it  so  constantly  elevates  incompetence  to  office  and 
authority. 

Two  of  the  letters  of  young  Laurens,  which  now  lie 
before  us,  addressed  to  his  uncle,  fully  illustrate  the 
frank  and  ingenuous  nature  of  the  youth,  the  seri 
ousness  of  his  purpose  even  in  boyhood,  the  elevation 
and  ardency  of  his  aim,  and  the  high  toned  honor  and 
purity  of  those  motives  and  principles  which  marked 
his  career  through  life.  Nor  will  the  simplicity  with 
which  he  declares  these  motives,  fail  to  arrest  attention 
as  significant  of  an  ingenuousness  of  nature  which 
denied  no  concealments.  In  one  of  these  letters,  of 
date  April  17,  1772,  he  says :  "  For  my  own  part  I 
find  it  exceedingly  difficult,  even  at  this  time,  to  deter 
mine  in  which  of  the  learned  professions  I  shall  list 
myself.  "When  I  hear  a  man  of  an  improved  educa 
tion,  speak  from  the  goodness  of  heart  divine  truths 
with  a  persuasive  eloquence  which  commands  the 
most  solemn  silence  and  serious  attention  from  all  his 
audience,  my  soul  burns  to  be  in  his  place ;  when  I 
hear  of  one  who  shines  at  the  bar,  and  overpowers 
chicanery  and  oppression,  who  pleads  the  cause  of 
helpless  widows  and  injured  orphans,  who,  at  the  same 
time  that  he  gains  lasting  fame  to  himself,  dispenses 
benefits  to  multitudes,  the  same  emulous  ardor  rises 
in  my  heart.  When  I  hear  of  another  who  has  done 
eminent  service  to  mankind,  by  discovering  remedies 
for  the  numerous  train  of  disorders  to  which  our  frail 


14          MEMOIR  OF  JOHN  LAURENS. 

bodies  arc  continually  subject,  and  lias  given  relief  to 
numbers  whose  lives,  without  his  assistance,  would 
have  been  insupportable  burdens,  I  cannot  refrain  from 
wishing  to  be  an  equal  dispenser  of  good. 

"  Thus  am  I  agitated.  '  Tis  beyond,  far  beyond  the 
power  of  one  man  to  shine  conspicuous  in  all  these 
characters ;  one  must  be  determined  upon ;  and  I 
am  almost  persuaded  that  it  would  be  that  of  the 
divine,  if  this  did  not  preclude  me  from  bearing  arms 
in  defence  of  my  country  —  for  I  cannot  read  with 
indifference  the  valiant  acts  of  those,  whose  prudent 
conduct  and  admirable  bravery  have  rescued  the  liber 
ties  of  their  countrymen,  and  deprived  their  enemies 
of  power  to  do  them  hurt. 

"  Xo  particular  profession  is  in  itself  disagreeable 
to  me.  Each  promises  some  share  of  fame.  I  never 
loved  merchandise,  nor  can  I  now.  There  are  but 
three  considerations  that  can  reconcile  it  to  me,  first, 
that  the  universal  correspondence  which  it  establishes, 
gives  one  a  knowledge  of  mankind  ;  then  the  continual 
flow  of  money  peculiar  to  this  employment,  enables  a 
man  to  do  extensive  good  to  individuals  of  distressed 
fortunes,  without  injuring  himself,  as  well  as  to  promote 
works  of  public  utility,  upon  the  most  beneficial  terms. 

"  Many  such  instances  have  offered  to  my  attention, 
but  I  am  sure  the  recital  of  one  will  give  you  pleasure. 
A  man  from  Scotland  trumped  up  a  claim  against  our 
landlord,  Mr.  Deans,  pretended  for  maintenance  of  a 
former  wife ;  swore  to  a  debt,  and  sued  him  for  £300 


MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  15 

and  upwards,  and  carried  liim  away  to  a  bailiff's 
sponging  house ;  but  papa  relieved  him  the  same  day. 
The  man,  finding  that  Deans  had  a  liberal  and  hearty 
friend,  made  some  application  to  papa,  who  told  him 
generally,  but  positively,  that  if  Mr.  Deans  was  on 
the  right  side,  he  should  not  want  a  thousand  guineas 
to  do  him  justice;  if  on  the  other  hand  he  was  in  the 
wronff  he  should  not  receive  the  assistance  of  a  half- 

O 

penny  from  him ;  then  left  the  man  abruptly.  This 
wrought  such  an  effect,  that  the  man  offered  to  sub 
mit  the  whole  matter  to  papa ;  but  he  would  not 
engage  in  it.  Then  the  bold  claimant  offered  to  drop 
the  action  entirely  if  Mr.  Deans  would  pay  half  the 
charges.  Papa  said  he  would  soon  be  glad  to  go  off 
without  any  other  benefit,  than  that  of  escaping  the 
pillory.  If  Deans  had  not  been  supported  by  such  a 
friend,  he  would  have  remained  in  gaol,  under  scandal 
ous  imputations,  and  probably  have  been  totally 
ruined,  for  he  had  tried  all  his  London  acquaintance 
in  vain.  The  man,  at  length,  begged  of  Mr.  Deans  to 
accept  a  general  release  ;  which  he  in  his  good  nature 
did ;  he  signed  a  release,  discharged  Deans's  bail,  and 
went  immediately  out  of  England ;  but  papa  says,  if 
he  had  been  previously  consulted,  he  would  have 
turned  the  tables  upon  him  for  example's  sake." 

It  is  a  boy's  letter  ;  but  the  letter  of  a  very  remark 
able  boy.  The  second,  dated  more  than  two  years 
later  (Sept.  15,  1774)  from  the  same  place,  exhibits  the 
matured  resolve  of  his  mind  on  the  subject  of  his 


16  MEMOIR    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

previous   embarrassment.     He  has  made   his  choice, 
giving  to  the  law  his  preference  among  the  professions. 
"  My  present   prospect,"  he  writes,  "  is  either  to  be 
lodged  in  the  Temple    or  in  some  reputable  private 
family,  under  the  eye  of  an  honest  lawyer,  if  such  a 
one  can  be  found,  and  to  study  the  laws  of  my  coun 
try  very  diligently  for   three  years.     But   a  horrible 
prospect  it  is,  that  I  am  to  get  my  bread  by  the  quar 
rels  and  disputes  of  others,  so  that  I  can't  pray  for 
success  in  my  occupation  without  praying  at  the  same 
time  that  a  great  part  of  mankind  may  be  in  error 
either  through  ignorance  or  design.     The  only  noble 
part  of  my  profession  is  utterly  unprofitable  in  this 
world,  I  mean  the  defence  of  the  weak  and  oppressed ; 
it  is  a  part,  however,  that  I  am  determined  never  to 
neglect ;  for,  although  it  enriches  not,  it  must  make 
a   man   happy.     "What  can  be  equal  to  the  heartfelt 
satisfaction  which   abounds   in   him  who   pleads  the 
cause  of  the  fatherless  and  the  widow,  and  sees  right 
done  to  him  that  suffers  wrong.     Thus,    after    long 
wavering,  I  am  now  fixed :  no  more  talk  to  me  either 
of  physic   or   commerce;    law  is  the   knotty   subject 
which  I  must  endeavor  to  render  pleasant." 

In  Xov.,  1774,  he  reports  further  progress  in  this 
direction.  In  a  letter  from  Chancery  lane,  he  says : 

"  On  Monday  I  shall  be  initiated  in  the  mystery  of 
mutton-eating,  by  which,  alone,  I  can  gain  the  title 
of  barrister.  I  have  entered  into  the  necessary  bond, 
and  paid  the  accustomed  fees  to  the  present  time.  " 


MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    LAUEENS.  17 

His  letters,  during  the  period  over  which  we  have 
gone,  show  him  to  have  been  an  active  observer  of 
affairs  and  a  weigher  of  opinion  in  Great  Britain,  and 
are  full  of  references  to  the  antagonist  relations,  grow 
ing  daily  more  and  more  embittered,  between  that 
nation  and  its  American  colonies.  His  mind  seems 
to  have  been  equally  well  informed  in  English  opinion 
and  American  principles.  The  politics  of  both  sec 
tions  are  discussed,  or  at  least  considered,  and  pas 
sages  from  them,  even  now,  would  be  found  to  possess 
an  interest  for  the  American  reader ;  but  these  must 
be  reserved  for  other  publications.  We  give  a  single 
sample  from  a  letter  addressed  to  his  uncle,  of  date 
13th  ]STov.,  1775.  It  is  partly  of  this  character;  and 
shows,  besides,  the  impatient  workings  of  his  own 
spirit,  encaged  as  it  were,  chafing  at  the  restraint  of 
his  abode  in  England,  while  his  father  and  his  country 
are  preparing,  in  anxious  apprehensions,  for  the  terrors 
of  the  impending  war. 

"  Can  I  think  with  composure  of  ins  [his  father] 
being  continually  exposed  to  danger,  while  I  am 
remote  in  security.  Although  he  commands  me  abso 
lutely  to  obey  him,  is  not  what  may  be  my  duty  in 
one  sense,  baseness  and  want  of  true  affection  in 
another  ?  O  God  !  I  know  not  what  to  do  !  —  of  what 
avail  are  wishes  ?  When  is  the  time  for  an  active 
part,  if  not  the  present.  No  one  can  conceive  what  I 
feel  for  my  dearest  friend  and  father;  to  ransom 
him,  I  would  give  my  life  with  pleasure  ;  I  do  not 


18          MEMOIR  OF  JOHN  LAURENS. 

mean  to  boast,  for  I  think  it  little  to  give ;  but  it  is 
my  all. 

"  I  endeavored  to  gain  admission  into  the  House  of 
Commons  to-day,  but  in  vain ;  Mr.  Burke  had  been 

speaking  to ,  when  I  was  dancing  a  fruitless 

attendance  at  the  door.  But  to  what  end  these  elo 
quent  harangues,  if  ministry  outvote ;  and  our  fine 
speeches  are  [only]  printed ;  in  the  beginning  of  the 
session  there  seemed  to  be  some  hope  of  accommoda 
tion,  but  now  I  think  'tis  vanished. 

"  Duchess  of  Bedford,  it  is  said,  has  some  pique 
against  her  brother,  Lord  Gower,  and,  to  give  him 
trouble,  will  bring  over  to  the  minority  her  dependents. 
But  the  ministry  are  so  powerful  that  a  large  defec 
tion  from  their  party  will  not  be  missed.  Since  Lord 
Geo.  Germaine,  and  Lord  Wcymouth  have  succeeded 
to  office  the  prospect  of  affairs  has  blackened." 

In  another  style  and  mood,  we  give  an  extract  from 
a  letter  preceding  this  in  time,  addressed  to  his  sister. 
It  exhibits  the  affectionate  tenderness  of  his  character 
in  its  domestic  relations  ;  the  delicacy  of  its  tone  and 
tenor,  as  well  as  the  considerate  prudence  of  the 
writer,  illustrating  the  claim  which  is  made  on  his 
behalf,  as  that  of  the  graceful  and  courteous  gentle 
man,  lie  is  still,  it  must  be  remembered,  but  a  youth, 
having  barely  reached  his  nineteenth  year.  The  letter 
is  dated  5th  May,  1775. 

"  Write  instantly,  clearly,  fully  ;  and  explain  to  me, 
my  sweet  sister,  that  little  sentence  dictated  by  a 


MEMOIR  OF  JOHN  LAURENS.          19 

tender  heart,  and  which  seems  to  have  cost  you  a  sigh 
in  writing  it.  What  is  that  important  something 
which  agitates  your  mind,  and  demands  the  friendly 
aid  of  a  confidant  ?  Make  one  of  your  brother,  or  our 
indulgent  father;  you  cannot  doubt  of  our  love. 
Whatever  it  be,  depend  upon  the  best  advice  I  am 
capable  of;  but  let  me  entreat  you,  my  dear,  to  banish 
reserve,  and  write  to  me  as  freely  as  you  would  indulge 
your  own  ideas  in  tranquil  retirement.  The  confer 
ence  which  you  so  ardently  wish  for,  cannot  happen 
soon ;  in  unbosoming  one's  self,  there  are  some 
advantages  in  writing,  if  we  may  believe  Mr.  Pope :  — 

The  virgin's  wish,  without  her  fears  impart, 
Excuse  the  blush,  and  pour  out  all  the  heart :  — 

though  I  can  very  well  conceive  of  circumstances 
which  require  more  of  detail  and  minute  explanation, 
than  a  letter  easily  admits  of.  But  you  write  to  a 
friend ;  the  form  of  the  letter  is  not  essential ;  the 
length  will  not  be  complained  of.  'Tis  true,  that  in 
a  conversation,  your  confidence  would  be  regulated 
in  a  great  measure  by  the  encouragement  given  you ; 
but  consider  me  as  your  other  self;  approving,  or 
ready  in  finding  excuses,  and  write  as  you  would 
speak  upon  such  an  occasion.  I  shall  make  many 
fruitless  conjectures.  As  your  letter  contains  symp 
toms  of  something  grave,  I  must  needs  be  in  painful 
suspense  till  you  put  it  in  my  power  to  assist  you. 


20  MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

No  more  need  be  said  to  procure  me  a  satisfactory 
letter  upon  this  subject." 

The  residence  of  John  Laurens  in  Europe,  during 
the  intervals  between  the  years  1772  and  1775,  was 
occupied  by  other  griefs,  anxieties  and  interests  than 
those  of  study  and  politics.  By  a  cruel  accident, 
during  his  temporary  absence  from  London,  a  younger 
brother,  a  most  promising  boy,  and  a  great  favorite 
with  his  father,  whom  the  latter  had  left  in  Europe 
also,  with  the  view  to  his  education,  was  killed 
by  an  accidental  fall  while  at  play.  The  sensitive 
nature  of  John  Laurens  prompted  him  to  bitter  self 
reproaches,  on  this  occasion,  for  which  there  was  no 
good  reason.  The  boy  had  been,  indeed,  entrusted 
measurably  to  his  care  and  keeping;  but  he  does 
not  seem  to  have  neglected  any  proper  precautions  in 
his  case;  and  the  casualty  is  to  be  ascribed  wholly 
to  the  indiscreet  playfulness  of  the  boy,  in  a  caprice 
of  sport,  such  as  is  common  to,  and  characteristic 
of  childhood.  But  the  keenness  of  the  pang  and 
the  terrible  suddenness  of  the  event,  seem  for  the 
moment,  to  have  overcome  his  judgment;  his  sensi 
bilities  were  too  active  for  his  thoughts,  and  he  made 
a  case  of  conscience  out  of  the  event,  which  embit 
tered  the  natural  sorrow,  and  humbled  greatly  the 
spirit  beyond  the  usual  exactions  of  grief. 

"We  have  reason  to  believe,  from  the  results  in  the 
development  of  intellect  and  character,  that  he  pur 
sued  his  studies  with  diligence  and  zeal.  But  his 


MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  21 

nature  was  warm,  and  craved  sympathy;  and  to  this 
we  are  to  ascribe  his  premature,  arid,  in  a  worldly 
sense,  perhaps,  imprudent  marriage,  which  took  place 
only  a  short  period  before  his  departure  for  America. 
But,  even  while  taking  his  vows  at  the  altar,  they 
were  made  with  the  accompanying  avowal  of  his  reso 
lution  to  proceed  to  his  native  country,  in  spite  of  all 
other  obligations,  and  join  himself  in  arms  with  his 
people.  Opportunity  for  this,  however,  was  not  easy, 
and  lie  watched  the  occasion  with  the  avidity  of  a  patri 
otic  zeal,  which  soon  realized  its  object.  The  oppor 
tunity  at  length  presented  itself;  the  contingency  for 
which  he  had  awaited  finally  came,  and  tearing  him 
self  away  from  his  young  bride,  he  made  his  way  from 
England  into  France,  the  only  route  by  which  he 
could  then  find  his  way  to  America.  His  first  letter 
(which  we  quote)  to  his  uncle,  James  Laurens,  dates 
from  Paris,  llth  January,  1777. 

"  My  Dear  Uncle  : 

I  arrived  here  the  7th  inst,,  and  have  since  had  the 
pleasure  of  conversing,  at  three  different  times,  with 
Doctor  Franklin.  His  accounts  of  America  are,  that 
she  will  be  much  better  provided  for,  the  ensuing 
campaign,  than  she  was  for  the  last ;  that  the  members 
of  the  congress  are  as  unanimous,  as  the  members  of 
popular  assemblies  generally  are ;  and  that  the  spirit 
of  the  people  does  not,  by  any  means,  flag.  It  is  a 
secret  yet  whether  France  will  assist  America  or  not. 


22  MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

The  fact,  as  it  appears  to  me,  is,  that  France  does  not 
choose  to  involve  herself  in  a  war  by  declaring  herself 
openly,  when  she  can  give  special  succors  without  any 
risk.  There  are  more  French  officers  in  America 
than  can  find  employment ;  the  French  ports  are  daily 
receiving  American  vessels.  Some  time  ago,  two 
armed  vessels,  one  of  which  was  loaded  with  military 
stores,  were  cleared  out  for  St.  Domingo,  and  a  number 
of  French  officers  took  their  passages  in  them.  By 
some  means  or  other,  Lord  Stormont  discovered  that 
these  vessels  were  employed  by  Silas  Deane,  and  the 
cargoes  intended  for  America.  He  went  immediately, 
at  an  unusual  hour  for  business,  to  Versailles,  and 
represented  the  matter  to  M.  de  Vergennes,  minister 
and  secretary  for  the  foreign  department;  he  had 
obtained  an  exact  list  of  every  thing  on  board ;  said 
he  had  sufficient  proof  that  the  whole  was  designed 
for  the  rebellious  English  colonies;  and  demanded 
that  these  vessels  should  be  stopped.  The  answer  was 
that  a  courier  should  be  dispatched ;  a  courier  was 
dispatched,  but  the  bird  had  flown. 

"  To-night,  I  take  place  in  the  diligence  for  Bor 
deaux,  from  whence  I  hope  soon  to  embark  for  my 
own  country.  Cochran  has  sailed,  which  I  am  very 
sorry  for,  as  my  acquaintance  with  him,  and  the 
good  character  of  his  vessel,  made  me  wish  to  be  his 
passenger. 

"  Present  my  tenderest  love  to  my  dear  aunt  and 
sisters.  I  am  afraid  I  shall  not  be  able  to  write  to 


MEMOIR  OF  JOHN  LAURENS.          23 

my  dear  Patty.  That  God  may  grant  you  all  his 
blessing,  is  the  constant  prayer  of  your  most  affec 
tionate 

JOHX  LAURENS." 

The  defeat  of  the  British  licet,  under  Sir  Peter 
Parker,  in  Charleston  harbor,  was,  in  all  probability, 
the  event  which  more  immediately  prompted  this 
resolution  to  fling  aside  his  studies,  professions  and 
other  tics.  This  event,  which  happened  on  the  28th 
June,  1776,  was  not  known  in  England  until  the  22d 
August,  of  the  same  year. 

According  to  the  purpose  expressed  in  the  preced 
ing  letter,  Laurens  made  his  way  to  America,  via  Cape 
Frangois,  which  place  he  reached  somewhere  about 
the  3d  April,  1777.  In  thirteen  days  thereafter,  we 
find  him  safely  arrived  in  South  Carolina,  where  he  at 
once  joined  the  American  army.  lie  was  soon  after 
transferred  to  the  main  force  of  the  Continentals,  at 
the  north,  there  being  no  longer  any  enemy  threaten 
ing  the  safety  of  the  south. 

He  was  now  under  the  immediate  command  and 
eye  of  Washington.  The  relations  which  had  long 
existed  between  the  commander-in-chief  and  Henry 
Laurens,  then  president  of  congress,  were  of  the  most 
grateful  and  confidential  character.  These  naturally 
secured  for  young  Laurens  the  entree,  under  the  most 
favorable  auspices,  into  the  family  of  Washington. 
His  own  qualities  did  the  rest.  The  grace,  spirit, 


24  MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    LATJRENS. 

accomplishments,  excellent  sense  and  general  intelli- 
o-ence  of  the  vonng  soldier,  combined  to  confirm  him 
in  position  on  his  own  account,  and,  like  Hamilton,  he 
soon  became  the  trusted  agent  of  his  chief,  his  secre 
tary  as  well  as  aid  and  confidant. 

But  these   relations    did   not   keep   him    from  the 
field    of    action,    which    was    the    province   lie    most 
preferred.     He  sought  every  opportunity   for   active 
service,   and  distinguished  himself,   on  all  occasions, 
especially  at  the  battle  of  Germantown,  where  he  was 
wounded  in  the  endeavor  to  expel  the  enemy  from 
Chew's  house,  where  they  had  established  themselves 
in  a  hold  too  strong  to  be  wrested  from  them  by  the 
inadequate  means  provided  for  the  occasion.     He  was 
engaged  in  the  brilliant  though  capricious  and  indeci 
sive  conflicts  on  the  plains  of  Monmouth,  where  the 
base  conduct,  if  not  treachery,  of  Charles  Lee,  came 
nigh  to  bring  about  the  most  disastrous  consequences. 
On  this   occasion  he  acquired  large  increase  of  repu 
tation  for  brilliant  dash  and  determined  courage.      In 
Rhode  Island  he  added   anew  to  his  reputation  both 
as  a  sage  counsellor  and  as  a  military  man.     In  refer 
ence  to  his  bravery  in  his  campaign  in  the  latter  state 
"Washington  wrote  to  his  father  Henry  Laurens : — 
"Feeling  myself  interested  in  every  occurrence  that 
tends  to  the  honor  of  your  worthy  son ;  and  sensible 
of  the  pleasure  it  must  give  you  to  hear  his  just  plaudit, 
I  take  the  liberty  of  transcribing  a  paragraph  of  Gene 
ral  Greene's  letter  to  me  giving  some  account  of  the 


MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  25 

conduct  of  particular  officers  in  the  action  on  Rhode 
Island.  Our  troops  behaved  with  great  spirit,  and 
the  brigade  of  militia  under  the  command  of  Gene 
ral  Lovel  advanced  with  great  resolution  and  in  good 
order;  and  stood  the  lire  of  the  enemy  with  great 
firmness.  Lt.  Col.  Livingston,  Col.  Jackson  and  Col. 
PL  B.  Livingston  did  themselves  great  honor  in  the 
transactions  of  the  day.  But  it  is  not  in  my  power  to 
do  justice  to  Col.  Laurens  who  acted  both  the  general 
and  partisan.  His  command  of  regular  troops  was 
small,  but  he  did  every  thing  possible  to  be  done  by 
their  numbers.  " * 

He  was  about  to  change  the  scene  of  operations. 
The  war  languished  at  the  north.  The  British  had 
begun  their  demonstrations  in  force  against  Georgia 
and  Js"orth  Carolina,  and  Laurens  eagerly  sought  and 
obtained  leave  to  repair  to  the  defence  of  his  native 
state.  Lie  joined  the  militia  forces  under  Moultrie, 
led  the  troops  which  defended  the  passes  of  the 
Coosohatchie,  was  wounded  and  narrowly  escaped 
with  his  life  and  from  captivity.  His  horse  was  killed 
under  him,  and  but  for  the  devotion  of  a  few  friends 
and  adherents,  he  must  have  perished  or  been  made 
a  prisoner.  Subsequently,  he  was  one  of  the  favorite 
lieutenants  of  Moultrie  in  the  attempted  coup  de  main 
of  Prevost  against  Charleston. 


1  Manuscript  letter  of  Washington  to  Henry  Laurens;    Whiteplains, 
Sept.  4,  1778. 

4 


26          MEMOIR  OF  JOHN  LAURENS. 

Savannah  had  already  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
British ;  and  Lincoln,  then  in  command  of  the  arm}7 
of  the  south,  upon  the  arrival  of  the  French  fleet, 
under  Count  D'Estaing,  proceeded  to  attempt  the 
recovery  of  the  capital  of  Georgia.  Savannah  was 
strongly  fortified  by  the  British,  who  took  advantage 
of  an  indiscreet  indulgence  in  point  of  time,  accorded 
them  by  D'Estaing,  prior  to  the  arrival  of  Lincoln. 
When  the  allies  advanced  to  the  assault  upon  the 
place,  to  Col.  Laurens  was  confided  the  command  of 
the  American  light  infantry.  At  the  head  of  his  com 
mand,  he  led  them  on  to  the  attack  with  his  accus 
tomed  dash  and  headlong  gallantry,  and  was  one  of 
the  first  to  mount  the  British  redoubts.  We  know 
from  general  history  the  issue  of  this  badly  managed 
leaguer  and  assault.  The  combined  forces  of  America 
and  France  met  with  a  decided  defeat,  and  all  farther 
attempts  to  secure  the  city  from  the  grasp  of  the 
enemy  were  abandoned  as  hopeless.  The  French 
retired  to  their  shipping  and  left  the  country,  while 
the  Americans  under  Lincoln  retreated  across  the 
Savannah  river  into  South  Carolina. 

It  followed  as  a  matter  of  course  from  the  failure 
of  this  enterprise,  that  South  Carolina  should  suffer 
next  from  British  invasion.  Lincoln  with  his  small 
force  of  five  thousand  men  including  the  local  militia, 
threw  himself  unwisely  into  Charleston,  where  he  was 
soon  besieged  by  the  British  under  Sir  Henry  Clinton, 
with  a  well  provided  army  of  twelve  thousand.  The 


MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  27 

cooperation  of  a  powerful  fleet  enabled  him  to  close  up 
all  the  avenues  to  the  city  by  sea  and  land,  and  after  a 
gallant  defence  of  nearly  two  months  and  the  exhaus 
tion  of  the  provisions  of  the  garrison,  the  American 
General  was  compelled  to  capitulate. 

During  the  siege,  Laurens  was  conspicuous  as  usual 
as  well  in  the  council  as  the  field.  He  led  at  the 
head  of  his  light  troops,  in  the  few  sorties  that 
were  made,  displaying  on  all  occasions  that  head 
long  enthusiastic  gallantry,  which  was  sometimes 
condemned  as  temerity,  but  which  had  the  good 
effect  usually  of  inspiring  confidence  in  his  troops, 
encouraging  those  who  faltered,  and  lessening  those 
ideas  of  British  superiority  and  resource  which  were 
quite  too  general  in  America  at  this  period,  and 
which  were  particularly  calculated  to  impair  the 
resolution  of  a  provincial  militia.  He  was  one  of 
those  leaders  who  never  know  when  they  are  beaten  — 
a  characteristic  which  in  war  is  very  much  like  a 
virtue,  and  which  is  decidedly  to  be  preferred  to 
that  soldiership  which  never  knows  in  season  when 
it  is  victorious  ! 

After  the  fall  of  Charleston,  Laurens  again  resumed 
his  relations  with  the  grand  army  under  Washington. 
But  that  army  presented  at  this  time  nothing  encou 
raging  in  its  aspects.  It  had  dwindled  away  in  num 
bers  and  the  states  were  slow  to  recruit  it.  The 
country  was  impoverished,  if  not  exhausted.  Con 
tinued  progress  and  repeated  successes  on  the  part  of 


28  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   LAURENS. 

the  invader,  with  the  rapid  diminution  of  the  national 
resources  of  the  country  under  a  long  protracted 
external  pressure,  had  brought  the  congress  and  the 
people  at  large  to  a  sense  of  weariness.  The  crisis, 
more  perilous  than  ever  before,  had  made  doubtful  their 
hopes  of  independence.  It  was  now  evident,  as  an 
essential  condition  of  success,  that  without  further 
foreign  aid,  especially  in  money,  there  could  not  much 
longer  be  continued  any  adequate  resistance  to  the 
external  pressure.  It  was  resolved  accordingly  that 
fresh  appeals  should  be  made  to  France  for  a  far  larger 
degree  of  assistance  than  she  had  ever  before  accorded 
to  the  wants  of  the  colonies.  For  this  mission,  a  spe 
cial  messenger  was  required  directly  from  the  army, 
having  equally  the  confidence  of  Washington  and 
Congress  and  bearing  the  letters  of  the  former  along 
with  the  commission  of  the  latter. 

It  was  undoubtedly  the  highest  sort  of  compliment 
but  not,  as  we  shall  see,  an  unmerited  one,  that  both  of 
these  parties  should  unite  upon  the  youthful  aid  do 
camp  of  the  commander  in  chief.  The  choice  origin 
ally  was  that  of  Washington  himself,  and  it  was 
promptly  concurred  in  by  the  congress.  At  this  period 
Laurens  was  but  twenty-five  years  old.  We  have  but 
few  instances  on  record  —  none  that  we  can  recall  - 
of  the  choice,  by  any  nation,  of  one  so  young  as  an 
envoy  extraordinary.  One  of  the  youngest  of  all  the 
officers  by  whom  Washington  was  surrounded,  he  was 
required  to  execute  a  mission  of  the  most  vital  im- 


MEMOIR    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  29 

portanee  and  of  the  greatest  delicacy.  But  in  a  well 
known  phrase,  Laurens  carried  an  old  head  upon  young 
shoulders.  He  was  a  man  of  thought  as  well  as 
action ;  who  could  design  as  well  as  execute,  and  was 
possessed  of  peculiar  personal  advantages.  Himself  of 
French  origin,  of  the  well  known  and  much  honored 
Huguenot  stock,  he  was  a  master  of  the  French 
language,  and  did  not  need  the  intervention  of  an 
interpreter.  He  was  well  read  in  civil  law ;  had  stu 
died  politics,  or  rather  statesmanship,  as  something  of 
a  science,  and  was  quite  familiar  with  the  old  and  new 
world  histories.  Practiced  in  the  graces,  of  noble  form 
and  ligure,  he  had  the  facility  and  manners  if  not  the 
arts  of  the  courtier;  and  with  all  these  virtues  of 
grace,  manner,  education  and  acquisition,  he  pos 
sessed  that  sort  of  boldness  and  energy  which  belongs 
to  great  ardency  of  temperament  and  a  resolute  will, 
qualities  which  in  some  degree  at  that  time,  but  more 
particularly  since,  distinguish  the  American  character, 
and  render  its  frankness  more  than  a  match  for  the 
subtleties  of  the  mere  politician,  or  the  native  refine 
ments  of  the  ordinary  courtier.  In  all  respects,  he 
was  far  more  variously  endowed  for  such  a  mission 
than  the  greater  number  of  his  countrymen  of  even 
twice  his  age.  It  is  also  to  be  remembered  that  he 
had  been  for  a  long  time  intimately  associated,  on  an 
equal  footing  and  in  like  relations  to  Washington,  with 
one  of  the  ablest  of  American  statesmen  in  the  person 
of  Alexander  Hamilton.  Briefly,  his  capacity  for  the 


30  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

mission  was  sucli  as  fully  to  justify  the  choice  of  the 
commander  in  chief,  even  if  the  results  of  his  labor 
had  failed  to  do  so. 

Laurens  reached  Paris  in  February,  1781,  and 
promptly  sought  an  interview  with  Franklin,  then 
the  resident  minister,  who  gave  him  no  encourage 
ment  in  regard  to  the  prospects  of  his  mission.  He 
had  himself  failed  of  that  degree  of  success  which 
was  essential  to  the  needs  of  his  country,  and  which 
would  have  made  the  succor  of  France  efficacious 
for  the  American  cause  in  the  struggle  with  her 
powerful  adversary.  The  great  philosopher,  it  was 
thought  by  many,  had  yielded  to  the  seduction  of 
a  brilliant  but  frivolous  court,  and  had  shown  him 
self  less  earnest  in  the  advocacy  of  the  claims  of  his 
country,  in  urging  her  necessities  than  was  consistent 
with  a  fervid  patriotism.1  It  is  thought  that  he 
somewhat  resented  the  employment  of  another,  and 
one  so  young,  for  the  attainment  of  those  very 
objects  which  were  specially  involved  in  his  own 
commission,  —  and  this  was  natural  enough.  He  was, 
in  fact,  temporarily,  though  not  formally  superseded. 
At  all  events,  he  gave  no  assistance  to  the  new 
commissioner,  beyond  bringing  him  to  the  know 
ledge  of  the  minister  Vergennes.  To  him  Laurens 
addressed  himself  with  all  the  earnestness  of  his 
nature,  stimulated  to  fervency  by  a  perfect  know- 

1  See  Memoirs  of  Arthur  Lee. 


MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  31 

ledge  of  the  condition  of  the  American  army  and 
the  rapidly  failing  resources  of  the  country.  His 
quest  was  generally  for  succor  in  arms  and  the 
munitions  of  war,  but  especially  to  negotiate  for 
a  large  loan  of  money.  It  was  in  financial  respects 
that  the  American  people  were  reduced  to  extremity. 
But  his  labours  to  persuade  and  convince  Vergennes 
were  all  in  vain.  That  minister  would  not  or  could 
not  see  the  extent  of  American  exigency.  He  was 
cold,  indifferent  and  evasive.  His  self-complacency 
would  not  allow  him  to  he  hurried,  and  by  a  mere 
youth,  who  might  well  be  supposed  an  inexpert ;  while 
the  formalities  as  well  as  the  frivolities  of  a  court  and 
its  etiquette,  were  of  themselves  great  obstacles  in  the 
path  of  a  singled-eyed  and  ardent  patriotism.  But  the 
mission  of  Laurens  would  not  brook  delay.  For  two 
months  Vergennes  had  contrived  to  baffle  the  direct 
approaches  of  the  youthful  commissioner.  But  he 
little  knew  the  spirit,  temper  and  resources  of  the 
young  man.  Laurens  was  resolved  to  be  baffled  no 
longer,  and  he  proceeded  to  cut  the  knot  that  he  was 
not  suffered  to  untie.  He  determined,  in  defiance  of 
all  form  and  precedent,  to  make  his  appeal  directly 
from  the  minister  to  the  monarch  !  This  purpose  he 
declared  to  Franklin,  who  discouraged  the  proceeding, 
as  against  all  rule  and  etiquette,  and  refused,  in  any 
way,  to  give  his  countenance  to  the  attempt.  Yer- 
gennes,  also,  to  whom  he  avowed  his  purpose,  was 
confounded  at  his  audacity,  and  probably  deceived 


32          MEMOIR  OF  JOHN  LAURENS. 

himself  with  the  belief  that  the  threat  was  simply 
designed  for  himself,  and  to  expedite  his  own 
movements,  and  that,  after  his  own  declared  hos 
tility  to  such  a  course  of  action,  he  should  hear  no 
more  of  it. 

He  was  mistaken.  He  little  knew  his  man.  Lau- 
rens  cherished  his  purpose  faithfully,  and  it  was  a 
surprise  to  Yergennes  himself,  when  at  the  iirst  public 
levee  which  followed,  he  carried  his  purpose  into 
action.  It  was  then  first,  after  so  long  a  delay,  that 
he  received  audience  of  the  king.  The  reception  was 
general  and  simply  formal,  and  not  designed  with 
any  view  to  business.  The  monarch,  according  to 
custom,  received  the  parties,  ambassadors  and  dis 
tinguished  persons  from  abroad,  accorded  them  a 
simple  recognition,  and  they  passed  on  severally, 
without  a  moment's  delay,  giving  place  to  others. 
The  court  was  one  of  severe  etiquette,  and  a  rigid 
formality  which  was  confounded  with  ideas  of  state 
and  dignity.  It  was,  therefore,  with  something  like  a 
sentiment  of  terror,  that  the  court  beheld  the  young 
ambassador,  instead  of  simply  bowing  and  passing 
forward  like  the  rest,  come  to  a  full  stop  in  the  pre 
sence  of  his  majesty,  and  present  his  memorial;  while 
in  good  set  terms,  in  French,  in  well  chosen  words, 
few  but  forcible,  he  made  known  his  business,  and 
the  exigencies  of  the  American  cause.  He  took 
occasion,  in  the  few  brief  moments  in  which  he  thus 
trespassed  upon  etiquette',  to  report  to  the  king,  that 


MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  33 

lie  was  recently  from  America,  from  the  camp  of 
Washington ;  that  he  bore  the  mission  of  that  great 
man,  as  well  as  that  of  congress ;  that  he  personally 
knew  the  truth  of  all  the  facts  which  he  reported,  and 
concluded  with  the  bold  assurance,  that  unless  the 
succors  which  were  prayed  for  by  his  country  were 
promptly  accorded,  the  sword  which  he  then  wore 
at  his  side  as  that  of  an  ally  of  his  majesty,  would 
soon,  in  all  probability,  be  of  necessity  drawn  against 
him,  as  that  of  a  subject  of  Great  Britain. 

The  proceeding,  however  against  rule  and  precedent, 
was  equally  electrical  in  its  effect  and  beneficial  in 
result.  Louis  is  described  as  being  greatly  confused 
for  the  moment,  but  quickly  recovering  himself,  he 
replied  briefly,  and  graciously  received  the  memorial. 
The  impression  made  upon  the  king  by  the  bold 
young  minister  was  highly  favorable,  and  he  distin 
guished  him  by  his  notice,  presenting  him,  when 
about  to  leave  France,  with  a  magnificent  snuff  box 
encircled  with  diamonds,  and  surmounted  with  his 
own  miniature,  similarly  enriched.  This  precious 
gift,  valued  at  a  thousand  guineas,  is  still  in  the  posses 
sion  of  the  family. 

Vergennes  was  now  moved  promptly  in  the  right 
direction.  The  prayer  of  the  petition  was  granted; 
the  munitions  and  money  were  obtained;  and  the 
latter,  under  the  judicious  financiering  of  Kobert 
Morris,  enabled  Washington  to  recruit  and  satisfy  his 

army,  and  to  carry  on  the  war  to  its  triumphant  close, 
5 


34  MEMOIR   OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

in  establishing,  as  states,  the  sovereignty  and  inde 
pendence  of  the  colonies. 

Laurens,  with  his  frank  earnestness,  resolnte  zeal 
and  American  directness  of  purpose,  thus  achieved  a 
novel  triumph  which  conveyed  a  new  lesson  to  the  old 
world  diplomatists  of  Europe.  Having  successfully 
effected  his  object,  he  yielded  no  time  to  the  fascina 
tions  of  the  French  court,  but  took  ship  immediately, 
and  fortunately  reached  America  in  safety. 

He  at  once  proceeded  to  resume  his  active  duties 
in  the  field.  Great  events,  contributing  largely  to 
the  full  close  of  the  grand  drama,  which  through 
war  led  to  independence,  were  culminating  to  fulfill 
ment.  Cornwallis  was  soon,  by  a  concentration  of  the 
American  and  French  armies  under  Washington  and 
Rochambeau,  cooped  up,  and  defending  himself 
stoutly  within  the  narrow  trenches  of  Yorktown. 
"When  the  period  arrived  for  assaulting  him  in  his 
stronghold,  Laurens  led  one  of  the  storming  parties 
which  carried  the  British  redoubts,  and  received, 
in  person,  the  sword  of  his  captive  Cornwallis. 

This  surrender  of  the  army  of  Cornwallis  entirely 
transferred  the  war  to  the  extreme  south,  where 
Greene  held  the  chief  command  of  the  American 
forces.  Laurens  at  once  hastened  to  attach  himself 
to  this  command.  The  war  in  the  south  had  become 
one  of  partisan  conflict  rather  than  of  grand  armies; 
and  with  such  chiefs  as  Marion,  Sumter,  Pickens, 
and  others  of  the  same  school,  activelv  and  incessantlv 


MEMOIR  OF  JOHN  LAURENS.          35 

ut  work,  it  was  soon  evident  that  the  issue,  no  longer 
admitting  of  a  doubt,  was  simply  a  question  of  time. 
There  were  no  great  cities  to  capture  or  defend; 
and  to  conquer  one  by  one,  the  several  scattered 
garrisons  of  the  enemy,  cut  off'  their  supplies 
and  reinforcements,  and  force  them  down  to  the 
seaboard,  was  the  sort  of  service  which,  alone  was 
now  required.  For  such  work,  Laurens  was  emi 
nently  endowed  by  his  prompt  military  genius,  great 
boldness,  and  celerity  of  movement.  He  too,  shared 
largely  in  that  peculiar  talent  which  has  made 
famous  the  names  of  Marion  and  Sumter;  and,  in 
this  province,  he  displayed  his  wonted  gallantry  and 
dash  —  carrying  it  sometimes,  in  the  excess  of  his 
zeal,  to  a  desperate  extent,  which  provoked  alike  the 
rebuke  and  admiration  of  his  contemporaries.  His 
audacity  in  the  field  incurred  the  reproach  of  rashness ; 
but  it  is  matter  of  question,  whether  at  this  period  it 
did  not  serve  as  a  wise  and  useful  virtue,  in  the  encou 
ragement  of  his  own  troops,  and  in  the  corresponding 
depression  of  the  enemy.  His  followers  might  natu 
rally  become  dispirited,  contending  severally  against 
superior  -numbers,  without  clothing  or  pay,  and 
frequently  without  provisions,  such  only  excepted  as 
they  could  gather  unripened  from  the  fields.  In  the 
interval  between  his  junction  with  the  southern  army 
and  his  last  battle,  he  was  rarely  out  of  the  saddle ; 
and  for  a  time  he  cooperated  in  some  of  the  enter 
prises  of  Col.  Lee  —  "Light  Horse  Harry''  —whose 


36  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

legion  grew  famous  with  a  reputation  wholly  its  own. 
But  our  space  will  not  suffer  us  to  enter  into  details 
respecting  his  enterprises,  however  much  they  might 
serve  to  illustrate  the  self-sacrificing  daring  of  his 
temper.  We  must  hasten  to  that  painful  catastrophe 
which  punished  his  temerity  —  if  such  it  were  —  and 
set  its  closing  seal  upon  a  career,  which,  wide,  various 
and  in  all  respects  nohle,  argued  gloriously  for  that 
future  of  performance,  which  might  well  he  undis 
puted  in  the  case  of  one  still  in  the  very  flower  of 
his  youth. 

It  was  in  the  closing  hours  of  the  war,  in  1782, 
when  active  operations  were  almost  wholly  suspended 
on  both  sides,  and  when  the  British  were  everywhere 
making  their  preparations  for  leaving  the  country, 
that  Laurens,  stimulated  by  his  sleepless  and  almost 
feverish  zeal  and  impulse,  arose  from  a  sick  bed  —  he 
had  been  suffering  from  tertian  —  and  taking  saddle, 
proceeded,  with  a  small  force  of  fifty  infantry,  a  few 
matrosses  and  a  single  howitzer,  to  execute  one  of 
those  partisan  performances  which  had  been  his  day 
by  day  exercise  for  a  long  season.  A  force  of  the 
British  had  ascended  the  Oombahee  in  boats,  with  the 
view  of  reaping  the  harvests  of  rice  along  that  river, 
prior  to  their  departure.  Laurens  resolved  on  defeat 
ing  this  object.  In  fact,  the  conflicts  of  the  war  in  the 
south,  from  the  termination  of  the  battle  of  Eutaw,  had 
been  chiefly  confined  to  predatory  operations  on  tlie 
part  of  the  British,  having  this  one  object  in  view. 


MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  37 

Having  been  frequently  punished  severely  on  these 
expeditions  by  the  partisan  cavalry  and  light  troops,  it 
appears  that,  on  the  present  occasion,  they  not  only 
sent  forth  a  larger  detachment  than  usual  but  resorted 
to  a  more  circumspect  strategy.  They  were  accord 
ingly  better  prepared  for  the  whole  force  led  by 
Laureus  than  he  had  any  reason  to  suspect,  and  the 
neglect  of  duty,  on  the  part  of  his  scouts  and  patrols, 
enabled  the  enemy  to  ascertain  his  movements  while 
he  remained  in  comparative  ignorance  of  theirs.  It 
was  known  that  their  barges  had  ascended  the  river 
to  a  certain  point,  and  he  proceeded  to  a  point  below, 
called  Cliehaw,  where  he  hoped  to  intercept  them. 
He  reached  the  plantation  residence  of  William  Stock, 
near  Chehaw  Point,  on  the  night  of  the  26th  of  August 
and  there  rested  for  the  night,  with  the  design  to  oc 
cupy  the  point  at  early  morning. 

But  the  British,  advised  of  his  movements,  had 
anticipated  his  purpose.  Their  barges  dropped  down 
the  river  under  cover  of  the  night,  and  taking  their 
station  so  as  to  command  the  point,  they  landed  a 
considerable  force,  which  they  concealed  in  the  long 
grasses  and  thickets  of  the  place. 

It  is  sad  to  be  told  of  the  gay  and  graceful  manner 
in  which  Laurens  spent  that  evening.  In  a  pleasant 
family  circle  of  fine  women,  he  was  the  courtier,  not 
the  soldier;  and  the  graceful  play  of  society  for  a  few 
hours  superseded  the  harsh  aspects  of  deadly  struggle. 
The  conversation  passed  into  pleasant  badinage,  in  the 


38          MEMOIR  OF  JOHN  LAURENS. 

course  of  which,  we  are  told,  he  jestingly  proposed 
to  the  ladies  that  they  should  be  present  in  a  secure 
place  during  the  anticipated  conflict.  Little  did  he 
or  they  appear  to  consider  for  a  moment  the  caprices 
of  that  fate  which  already  had  him  under  doom. 

He  took  horse  at  early  dawn,  at  the  head  of  his 
troops,  and  the  catastrophe  was  quickly  reached.  The 
enemy  rose  from  his  ambush,  poured  in  a  destructive 
fire,  and  Laurens  was  its  first  victim.  He  was  buried 
on  the  plantation  from  which  he  had  gone  forth  with 
such  an  exulting  confidence  ! 

Verily,  it  was  a  sad  close  of  so  brilliant  a  career ; 
and  that  he  should  perish  in  an  affair  of  so  little  con 
sequence,  added  to  the  keen  and  bitter  sense  of  the 
public  loss.  Washington  mourned  over  his  fate  as 
over  that  of  a  son.  Greene  coupled  his  lament,  which 
was  quite  earnest  and  impassioned,  with  the  reproach 
that  a  life  so  precious  to  his  country  should  be 
sacrificed  for  an  object  of  so  little  significance;  and 
that,  too,  at  a  moment  when  the  struggle  was  sub 
stantially  at  an  end,  and  when  all  the  great  objects  of 
the  strife  had  been  attained.  With  them,  Hamilton, 
Lee,  LaFayette,  Moultrie,  all  the  master  minds  of 
the  revolution,  contributed  their  regrets,  and  joined 
in  his  eulogium,  while  the  voice  of  lamentation  was 
everywhere  loud  in  the  land.  They  all  concurred  in 
their  estimate  of  his  great  merits  as  soldier,  courtier 
and  statesman.  He  had  served  with,  or  under,  most 
of  them,  and  their  testimonies  were  no  second  hand 


MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  39 

tributes,  but  the  fruit  of  personal  association  and  a 
long  experience.  Numerous  anecdotes  might  be  given 
illustrating  the  genera]  feeling  and  the  sympathy  of 
those  officers  and  soldiers,  as  well  as  of  the  civilians 
of  the  revolution  with  whom  he  had  won  the  title 
of  the  Bayard  of  America. 

John  Adams  writing  from  Paris  to  Henry  Laurens 
shortly  after  the  news  of  his  son's  death  reached  that 
capital,  says  :  —  "I  know  not  how  to  mention  the  me 
lancholy  intelligence  by  this  vessel  which  affects  you 
so  tenderly.  I  feel  for  you  more  than  I  can  or  ought 
to  express.  Our  country  has  lost  its  most  promising 
character  in  a  manner,  however,  that  was  worthy  of 
her  cause.  I  can  say  nothing  more  to  you,  but  that 
you  have  much  greater  reason  to  say  in  this  case,  as  a 
Duke  of  Ormond  said  of  an  Earl  of  Ossory,  "  I 
would  not  exchange  my  son  for  any  living  son  in  the 
world."1  Even  personal  enemies  of  Col.  Laurens 
bore  willing  testimony  to  the  nobleness  of  his  soul, 
and  the  lofty  purity  of  his  chivalry.  "When  in  a  duel, 
he  had  shot  General  Charles  Lee,  because  of  his 
disparaging  language  concerning  Washington,  the 
wounded  man  exclaimed :  "  How  handsomely  the 
young  fellow  behaved.  I  could  have  hugged  him !  " 
His  sense  of  justice,  not  to  say  magnanimity,  was  ad 
mirably  shown,  when  promoted  by  congress,  for  his 


1  Manuscript  letter  of  John  Adams  to  Henry  Laurens,  Paris,  No 
vember  6,  1782. 


40  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN   LAURENS. 

gallantry  and  public  service,  but  out  of  the  regular 
order  of  promotion  in  the  army,  he  declined  the 
commission  as  a  bad  precedent,  a  wrong  done  to  his 
comrades,  and  one  which  might  properly  provoke  their 
jealousy,  and  occasion  disaffection !  We  may  sum  up 
briefly  our  estimate  of  John  Laurens,  in  the  language, 
with  one  alteration,  which  Shakespeare  puts  into  the 
mouth  of  Ophelia  when  she  laments  the  supposed 
overthrow  of  Hamlet's  mind. 

O,  what  a  noble  man  is  here  o'erthrown ! 

• 

The  courtier's,  soldier's,  scholar's,  eye,  tongue,  sword ; 
The  expectancy  and  rose  of  the  fair  state, 
The  glass  of  fashion  and  the  mould  of  form, 
The  observ'd  of  all  observers  ! 

Laurens  fell  on  the  27th  August,  1782,  being  then 
but  twenty-seven  years  of  age.  He  left  a  widow  and 
one  young  daughter.  How  these  were  cared  for  and 
how  his  public  services  were  acknowledged  and 
requited,  it  will  suffice  to  exhibit  if  we  close  this 
memoir  with  a  letter,  never  before  published,  of  the 
Hon.  John  C.  Hamilton,  son  of  Alexander  Hamil 
ton,  and  a  copy  of  the  speech  made  by  the  Hon. 
Robert  Y.  Hayne,  in  the  senate  of  the  United 
States,  on  the  bill  for  the  relief  of  the  grandson 
of  Col.  John  Laurens.  These,  with  the  elegiac  poem 
of  Philip  Freneau,  the  poet  par  excellence  of  the1 
American  Revolution,  on  the  death  of  Laurens,  may 
furnish  a  sufficient  close  to  this  brief,  but  we  trust 
not  wholly  unsatisfactory  memoir. 


MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  41 

The  following  is  the  letter  of  the  Hon.  John  C. 
Hamilton  : 

"  NEW  YORK,  Jan.  I'2th,  1824. 
"  Dear  Sir : 

In  the  proceedings  of  the  Senate,  I  yesterday  ob- 
served  the  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Foreign  Rela 
tions  on  the  Petition  of  Francis  Henderson  Jr.  In  the 
course  of  my  inquiries  I  have  had  an  opportunity  of 
forming  an  opinion  of  the  services  of  Lieut.  Col.  Lau- 
rens  and  of  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by 
the  family  of  the  Commander  in  chief,  which  entitles 
him,  beyond  all  question  to  the  first  rank  among  the 
young  men  of  the  revolution.  During  his  immediate 
attendance  at  headquarters  he  was,  with  Col.  Hamil 
ton  always  selected  to  perform  the  most  delicate 
offices  of  his  station,  and  was  entrusted  with  Gen. 
Washington's  most  secret  confidences,  and,  from 
the  period  of  the  arrival  of  Cfc  D'Estaing,  until 
the  close  of  the  campaign  of  1781,  in  the  communi 
cations  with  the  officers  of  our  ally,  the  aids  derived 
from  him  were  invaluable. 

"  His  military  career  has  left  behind  him  an 
uninterrupted  blaze  of  glory.  Sent  forward  to  R 
Island,  by  Gen  "W.  to  superintend  the  conduct  of 
affairs  in  that  quarter  until  Gen.  Greene  took 
the  command ;  to  Col.  Laurens  is  principally  at 
tributed  the  reconciliation  of  D'Estaing,  who  had 

been  offended  by  Gen.  Sullivan's  indiscretion,  which 
6 


42          MEMOIR  OF  JOHN  LAURENS. 

excited  the  most  serious  apprehensions  as  to  its 
effect  on  our  ally.  His  gallantry  on  this  occasion  was 
so  conspicuous  that  he  received  from  Congress  a  vote 
of  thanks  and  a  tender  of  a  commission  of  Colonel, 
which  he  declined  from  delicacy  to  his  brother  aids. 
At  Monmouth  where  every  member  of  Geii.  "W's 
family  seemed  to  contend,  not  only  for  their  country 
but  for  their  personal  reputation,  as  connected  with 
their  chief,  he  participated  in  all  the  exposure  of 
the  day  —  and,  in  the  controversy  between  "W.  & 
Lee  which  agitated  the  camp  and  Congress,  such 
was  his  devotion  to  the  former  that,  late  in  the 
year,  he  invited  Gen.  Lee  to  a  rencontre,  who, 
after  receiving  a  slight  wound,  made  an  explana 
tion  equally  honorable  to  himself  and  satisfactory  to 
his  antagonist. 

"  On  the  invasion  of  Georgia  in  '79,  Co1  L.  hastened 
to  Carolina.  Here  he  was  conspicuous  in  preparing 
for  the  expected  invasion.  In  order  to  aid  the  councils 
of  the  State,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  their  Lejnsla- 

7  O 

ture  where  he  used  every  arg*  to  call  out  the  militia 
and  forward  the  black  levies  which  he  had  begun  to 
recruit.  On  the  arrival  of  Gen.  Lincoln,  he  immedi 
ately  joined  him;  was  present  in  the  storm  of  Savannah, 
and  such  was  his  chivalry,  that,  after  the  retreat  was 
sounded,  and  the  troops  had  fallen  back,  he  continued 
on,  in  the  direction  of  the  enemy's  fire  until  C6  D'Es- 
taing,  who  was  himself  wounded,  pointed  him  out  to 
Lincoln,  who  ordered  him  to  draw  off  a  detachment  in 


MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  43 

order  to  remove  him  from  the  field.  The  misfortune 
of  that  day  menacing  the  most  alarming  consequences, 
Laurens  rode  express  to  Philadelphia,  in  order  to  urge 
succours  to  the  Southern  Army.  Here  he  received  a 
new  mark  of  confidence ;  being  elected  by  Congress 
Secretary  to  the  Minister  at  Versailles  —  a  situation 
which  he  peremptorily  declined  (though  sought  for 
by  the  most  conspicuous  names  in  the  country)  —  in 
order  to  rejoin  the  army,  and  was  at  last  induced  to 
accept,  on  an  intimation  "  that  there  was  no  other 
individual  on  whom  the  two  parties  in  congress  could 
unite."  Circumstances  having  occurred  to  render  his 
departure  on  this  service  unnecessary,  he  hastened 
from  Philadelphia  and  arrived  in  sufficient  season 
to  take  part  in  the  defence  of  Charleston,  where  I 
presume,  he  was  taken  prisoner  —  (this  fact  I  have  to 
learn). 

"  The  most  important  incident,  however,  of  his  life 
and  that  having  the  most  immediate  relation  to  the 
claim  before  you,  is  his  mission  as  Envoy  to  France  in 
Feby.  1781.  The  magnitude  of  his  services  on  this 
occasion  are  matters  of  history,  but  among  many  inte 
resting  incidents  connected  with  this  event  there  is 
one  which  may  not  be  before  the  public.  Vergennes 
was  opposed  to  any  open  interference  on  our  behalf  at 
the  outset  of  the  quarrel,  and  always  continued  adverse 
to  our  independence.  In  this  spirit  he  presented  every 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  Col.  Laurens  negotiation, — 
Wearied  by  these  delays  L.  obtained  an  interview  with 


44          MEMOIR  OF  JOHN  LAURENS. 

him,  and  after  a  warm  expostulation,  characteristic  of 
his  noble  spirit,  he  broke  from  him  —  prepared  a  me 
morial  to  the  king,  and,  waiting  upon  him  in  the  suc 
ceeding  levee,  regardless  of  the  etiquette  of  the  court, 
handed  it  to  Louis  in  person.  This  decisive  bearing 
although  it  excited  great  astonishment,  was  followed 
by  the  happiest  effects.  On  the  succeeding  day  the 
ministers  contended  with  each  other  in  their  zeal  to 
promote  his  views,  and  he  returned  here  in  sufficient 
season  to  aid  us  in  a  most  critical  posture  of  our  affairs. 
(The  money  obtained  by  Laurens  was  deposited  in  the 
Bank  of  N.  A.  and  sustained  the  financial  operations 
of  Mr.  Morris  until  the  signature  of  the  provisional 
treaty).  Laurens  arrived  in  Boston,  in  Sept.  1781, 
and  he  immediately  joined  the  army  and  in  the  storm 
of  the  Redout  on  the  night  of  the  14th  Octr,  which  was 
the  closing  scene  of  my  father's  service,  L.  who,  with 
a  body  of  picked  men,  was  detached  by  him  to  take 
the  enemy  in  reverse  and  intercept  their  retreat, 
entered  the  works  among  the  foremost  and  made 
prisoner  the  commanding  officer.  As  a  compliment 
to  his  gallantry  and  in  reference  to  the  capture  of 
Charleston,  he  with  the  Viscount  De  Xoailles,  was 
appointed  a  commissioner  to  settle  the  terms  of  the 

capitulation. 

(Signed) 

JOHN   (\  HAMILTON." 


MEMOIR  OF  JOHN  LAURENS.          45 


IN  THE  SENATE. —  Remarks  of  Mr.  Hayne,  of  South 
Carolina,  on  the  bill  for  the  relief  of  the  grandson  of 
the  late  Colonel  John  Laurens. 

Mr.  Hayne  said,  that  it  had  been  his  firm  determina 
tion  to  take  no  part  in  the  discussion  of  this  claim,  and 
to  give  a  silent  vote  on  the  several  questions  which 
should  arise  on  it.  But  some  erroneous  statements 
had  been  made  which  it  was  in  his  power  to  correct, 
and  it  had,  therefore,  become  his  duty,  to  give  to  the 
senate  all  the  information  he  possessed  on  the  subject. 

The  merits  of  the  deceased,  Colonel  John  Laurens, 
had  been  brought  (he  conceived,  somewhat  improperly) 
into  discussion,  on  this  occasion,  inasmuch  as  the  claim 
of  the  petitioner  was  a  call  on  the  justice,  and  not  on 
the  bounty,  of  the  country.  As,  however,  the  name  of 
Laurens  had  been  mentioned,  he  could  not,  with  jus 
tice  to  his  own  feelings,  refrain  from  adding  his  feeble 
tribute  of  respect  for  the  virtues,  and  admiration  of 
the  character  of  that  distinguished  man.  He  felt  that 
he  would  be  indulged  by  the  senate,  when  they 
remembered,  that  he  represented  the  state  which  had 
been  honored  by  giving  birth  to  that  illustrious  hero, 
and  which  had  been  still  more  honored  in  being  the 
scene  of  his  glorious  death.  Colonel  John  Laurens, 
said  Mr.  Hayne,  was  the  Bayard  of  America.  Of  him, 
if  of  any  man  who  ever  lived,  it  could,  with  truth,  be 
said,  "  he  was  without  fear,  and  without  reproach.7'1  He 
brought  to  the  service  of  his  country,  a  Roman  form, 


46  MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

and  more  than  a  Roman  soul.     If  you  sought  for  him 
in  the  day  of  battle,  he  was  found  at  the  post  of 
danger ;  if  at  any  other  moment,  he  was  found  at  the 
post  of  duty.     The  love  of  his  country  controlled  every 
other  feeling  of  his  heart ;  it  might  almost  be  said,  to 
be  that  "  in  which  he  lived  and  moved,  and  had  his 
being."     It  had   been  supposed,   said   Mr.    H.,   that 
Colonel  Laurens  was  a  rash  man,  wholly  reckless  of 
life  —  who  rushed,  with  the  instinct  of  the  lion,  on  his 
foe,  and  who  was  regardless,  because  he  was  insensible 
to  danger.     Some  countenance,  indeed,  had  been  given 
to  this  idea  by  the  historians  of  the  day.     But  Mr.  H. 
was  strongly  impressed  with  the  belief,  that  injustice 
had,  in  this  respect,  been  done  to  the  character  of 
Laurens,  and  that  his  ardent  enterprize,  and  heroic 
courage,  had  been  mistaken  for  thoughtless  despera 
tion.     Laurens  possessed  a  highly  cultivated   mind. 
He  was  a  man  of  thong]  it  as  well  as  of  action ;  "as 
great  in  council  as  in  high  resolve."     It  is  not  to  be 
supposed,  therefore,  that  such  a  man  could  have  been 
insensible   to    danger.     Mr.    H.    w^as    satisfied,    from 
facts  within  his  own  knowledge,  that  though  Colonel 
Laurens    always   felt  himself  impelled   by  his  noble 
nature,  and  a  high  sense  of  duty,  to  seek  danger  in 
his    country's    service,  wherever  it  was  to  be  found, 
yet  he  duly  estimated  the  hazards  of  such  conduct, 
and  considered,  as  probable,  the  event  by  which  he 
finally  sealed,    with    liis    blood,    his    devotion    to    his 
country.     When  entering  on   his   last   campaign,  he 


MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  47 

confided  to  the  care  of  a  friend  a  precious  jewel  —  the 
gift  of  Louis  XVIth,  with  directions  how  it  should  be 
disposed  of  in  the  event  of  his  fall.  No,  sir,  said  Mr. 
H.,  Colonel  Laurens  was  neither  insensible  to  danger, 
nor  indifferent  to  life.  It  was  only  when,  to  borrow 
the  language  of  the  immortal  poet : 

He  set  honor  in  one  eye,  and  death  in  t'other, 
That  he  did  look  on  death  indifferently. 

"  The  field  of  battle  was  not  the  only  sphere  in  which 
Colonel  Laurens  displayed  great  talents,  and  rare 
qualities.  lie  was  no  less  able  as  a  negociator,  than 
distinguished  as  a  soldier.  At  the  most  critical  period 
of  the  revolution,  congress  found  it  necessary  to  send 
to  France  for  succor  and  support.  They  sought  out 
Laurens  in  the  camp,  and  confided  to  him  a  special 
mission  to  the  court  of  Versailles.  His  conduct  on 
that  mission  was  as  striking  and  peculiar  as  it  was 
eminently  successful.  He  stamped  his  own  high  cha 
racter  on  a  transaction  unexampled  in  the  whole 
history  of  diplomacy.  Arrived  at  the  French  court, 
lie  trampled  at  once  on  all  the  official  forms,  and  in 
the  simple  garb  of  an  American  soldier,  pressed 
instantly  into  the  presence  of  the  sovereign  —  elo 
quently  and  fearlessly  explained  the  situation  of  his 
country,  clearly  pointed  out  the  duty  and  interest  of 
France,  and  demanded  assistance.  Patriotism  and 
eloquence  were  signally  triumphant — Laurens  pre 
vailed.  He  obtained  at  once  that  relief  which  was, 
perhaps,  essential  to  the  accomplishment  of  American 


48  MEMOIR    OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

Independence,  and  which  if  it  had  not  been  wholly 
denied  to  the  usual  course  of  tardy  negociation,  might 
have  come  too  late  to  produce  the  desired  effect.  Thus 
was  the  work  of  years  accomplished  in  a  few  short 
weeks.  But  a  few  months  had  elapsed  since  Laurens 
had  been  seen  in  the  ranks  of  the  American  army  "in 
the  thickest  of  the  fight."  And  now  (having  in  the 
meantime  twice  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  concluded  a 
most  important  negociation),  he  was  again  on  his 
native  shores,  bringing  with  him  immense  treasures, 
the  fruits  of  his  labors,  and  furnishing  pay  and  cloth 
ing  to  the  suffering  soldiery.  In  a  few  days  after  his 
arrival,  he  was  again  found  in  the  camp,  marshalling 
to  glory  the  soldiers  of  liberty.  Mr.  II.  said,  he 
would  not  attempt  to  follow  him  further  in  his  glori 
ous  course.  We  all  know  that  he  fell  at  the  head  of 
his  troops  gallantly  fighting  for  the  liberties  of  his 
country,  and  the  rights  of  mankind.  It  is  delightful, 
said  Mr.  H.,  to  reflect  that  he  fell  "  in  the  last  of  our 
fields,"  as  if  Providence,  who  had  preserved  him 
through  so  many  perils,  had  permitted  his  career  to 
be  closed  only  when  there  were  no  more  battles  to  be 
won.  It  will  hardly  be  believed  by  posterity,  that  the 
hero  who  filled  so  large  a  space  in  the  annals  of  his 
country,  died  in  his  youth,  not  having  yet  attained  his 
twenty-seventh  year. 

"As  nearly  connected  with  this  subject,  said  Mr.  II., 
it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  Col.  Laurens  was  the 
purest  and  most  disinterested  of  human  beings.  His 


MEMOIR   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  49 

political  creed  was,  that  in  the  hour  of  calamity,  the 
life  and  fortune  of  the  citizen  is  the  property  of  his 
country,  and  that  his  services  should  be  rendered  gra 
tuitously.  Laurens  received  no  pay  —  kept  no  private 
accounts,  and,  most  certainly,  never  intended  to  de 
mand,  nor  would  have  consented  to  receive,  any 
compensation  for  his  invaluable  services,  military  and 
diplomatic.  It  was  in  the  same  spirit,  that  on  one  occa 
sion,  he  declined  a  commission  in  the  army,  tendered 
him  as  a  reward  for  his  gallantry ;  not,  assuredly,  from 
insensibility  to  its  value  (for  military  glory  was  the  idol 
of  his  soul,  and  promotion  the  very  reward  for  which 
his  heart  panted),  but  because,  as  he  himself  declared, 
his  promotion  might  give  offence  to  older  officers  ; 
and  thus  be  injurious  to  the  public  service.  Mr.  H. 
said,  he  knew  not  how  better  to  combine  in  one  view, 
the  various  traits  which  marked  the  character  of  John 
Laurens,  than  by  adopting  the  elegant  language  of  the 
American  historian  :  "  Nature  had  adorned  him  with 
a  profusion  of  her  choicest  gifts,  to  which  education 
had  added  its  most  useful  as  well  as  its  most  elegant 
improvements.  Acting  from  the  most  honorable 
principles  —  uniting  the  bravery  and  other  talents  of 
the  great  officer,  with  the  knowledge  of  a  complete 
soldier,  and  the  engaging  manners  of  a  well  bred  gen 
tleman  —  he  was  the  idol  of  his  country  —  the  glory 
of  the  army,  and  the  ornament  of  human  nature." 

"It  was    such   a   man,    said   Mr.   II.,    as    he   had 
described  —  so  gallant  in  war,   so  happy  in  negocia- 
7 


50          MEMOIR  OF  JOHN  LAURENS. 

tion,  and  whose  good  fortune  it  was  to  have  rendered 
such  immense  services  to  his  country,  that  at  the  end 
of  the  revolution,  closed  his  glorious  life,  by  a  still 
more  glorious  death.  Cut  down  in  the  midst  of  all 
his  prospects,  he  left  an  infant  child,  an  orphan 
daughter ;  and  had  that  child  been  left  destitute  and 
friendless,  what  would  the  American  nation  have  done  ? 
What  ought  they  to  have  done  ?  Sir,  they  wTould  have 
imitated  Rome,  in  the  best,  the  most  virtuous  days  of 
that  republic.  They  would  have  adopted  that  orphan. 
She  would  have  become  the  child  of  the  republic, 
which  would  have  cherished  and  protected  her  — 
reared  her  up  to  honor  and  usefulness,  and  finally 
have  bestowed  on  her  "  a  suitable  dowry  in  marriage." 
But  such  was  fortunately  not  her  destitute  condition. 
She  was  left  to  the  paternal  care  of  her  venerable 
grandfather,  a  man  of  high  character,  of  large 
fortune,  and  to  whom  his  deceased  son  had  been 
dearer  than  his  own  life. 

"  It  was  supposed  to  be  proper  to  apply  to  congress 
in  behalf  of  the  orphan,  for  the  payment  of  the  salary 
to  which  her  father  wras  entitled  as  a  military  officer, 
and  a  foreign  minister.  All  that  was  asked  was 
granted;  the  pay  was  adjusted  —  the  account  settled, 
and  the  money  received  and  applied  to  the  use  of  the 
child.  At  a  subsequent  period  she  was  married  in 
England  to  the  petitioner,  who,  in  the  right  of  his 
wife,  became  entitled  to  receive  a  considerable  for 
tune,  composed  of  the  money  granted  by  congress, 


MEMOIR  OF  JOHN  LAURENS.          51 

and  the  bequest  of  her  grandfather.  In  this  situation 
matters  have  remained  for  upwards  of  thirty  years, 
when  the  petitioner  discovers,  that  in  the  adjustment 
of  Col.  Laurens'  account,  other  claims  might  have 
been  introduced ;  and  he  comes  here  in  his  own  right, 
and  asks  not  only  for  the  corrections  of  errors  in  the 
settlement,  but  also  for  interest  for  forty  years  on  the 
whole  amount  —  interest,  which  is  not  the  practice  of 
this  government  to  allow.  Now,  sir,  if  the  daughter  of 
Col.  Laurens  was  in  pecuniary  distress,  and  were  to 
come  here,  and  ask  of  your  liberality,  assistance  and 
support,  it  would  become  this  house  —  it  would  be 
worthy  of  the  nation  to  extend  the  hand  of  kindness, 
and  generously  to  bestow  any  sum  of  money  necessary 
for  her  relief.  It  ought  not,  however,  in  such  a  case, 
to  be  presented,  in  the  shape  of  a  demand,  for  interest 
on  an  account,  but  the  lasting  gratitude  due  for  the 
services  of  the  father,  ought  to  be  the  foundation  of  a 
liberal  donation  to  the  child. 

"  But  the  parties  to  this  petition  make  no  appeal.  It 
is  a  simple  demand  by  the  legal  representative,  for  the 
settlement  of  an  account,  to  which,  therefore,  the 
usual  rules  ought  to  be  applied.  No  complaint  is 
made  of  pecuniary  distress ;  no  appeal  has  been  made 
or  could  be  made,  with  any  propriety,  to  your  sympa 
thies.  Let  justice,  then,  be  done;  but  let  the  bounty 
of  the  country  be  reserved  for  a  more  suitable 
occasion.  With  respect  to  the  claim  of  interest,  on 
the  ground  that  all  the  parties  have  constantly  resided 


52          MEMOIR  OF  JOHN  LAURENS. 

in  England,  Mr.  II.  said,  the  honorable  chairman  of 
the  committee  was  mistaken,  in  point  of  fact;  and  this 
was  one  of  the  errors  which  Mr.  II.  had  risen  to  cor 
rect.  The  petitioner  was  in  this  country  upwards 
of  twenty  years  ago;  had  heen  here  on  one  or  two 
occasions  since,  and  had  resided  in  America  for 
several  years  past,  Interest  could  not  he  claimed  on 
that  ground. 

"  It  only  remains,  then,  said  Mr.  H.,  to  enquire  what 
does  justice  require  at  our  hands,  in  this  case  ?  It  is 
alleged  by  the  petitioner,  that  certain  errors  exist  in 
the  settlement  of  Col.  Laurens'  account,  under  the 
resolutions  of  congress  of  1784.  The  respectable  com 
mittee  to  whom  the  subject  has  been  referred,  have 
reported  that  in  their  opinion  the  allegation  has  been 
supported  by  proof.  With  that  report,  Mr.  II.  was 
disposed  to  rest  satisfied;  more  especially,  as  it 
appeared  to  him,  from  the  examination  he  had  been 
enabled  to  make,  that  there  were  good  grounds  for  that 
opinion.  It  might,  indeed,  be  objected,  by  persons 
disposed  to  be  over  scrupulous,  that  the  account  hav 
ing  been  long  settled,  every  presumption  ought  to  be 
indulged  against  the  claim.  But  he  thought  that 
would  be  applying  a  rule  too  technical,  and  much  too 
rigid  for  such  a  case ;  more  especially,  as  the  items 
of  which  the  claim  was  composed,  could  be  easily 
brought  to  the  test  of  a  rigid  examination.  It  is 
alleged  by  the  petitioner,  that  Col.  Laurens  was  not 
allowed  his  expenses,  as  a  foreign  minister,  but  only 


MEMOIR  OF  JOHN  LAURENS.          53 

the  usual  salary;  and  it  is  insisted,  that  it  was  the 
universal  practice  to  allow  these  expenses,  in  lieu  of 
the  outfit,  which  has  since  been  established  by  law. 
Both  of  these  facts  are  susceptible  of  the  clearest 
proof.  The  account  which  was  settled,  shews  plainly, 
say  the  committee,  that  no  allowance  was  made  for 
expenses ;  and  that  it  was  then  usual  to  allow  these 
expenses,  is  manifest  from  the  journals  and  documents 
submitted.  The  committee  have  informed  us  that 
the  sum  reported  is  in  exact  proportion  to  that  allowed 
to  Silas  Deane  and  other  foreign  ministers,  on  the 
same  account.  The  other  items  are  of  small  amount, 
and  from  the  statements  of  the  chairman,  seem  to  be 
equally  satisfactorily  proved.  The  amount  of  these 
items  ought  therefore  to  be  paid ;  but  in  the  shape  in 
which  this  claim  was  now  presented,  Mr.  H.  thought 
without  interest.  The  United  States  did  not  in 
general  allow  interest,  and  he  saw  no  sufficient  rea 
son  to  make  this  case  an  exception  to  the  rule.  Had 
the  petitioner  insisted  on  the  payment  of  the  amount 
of  the  claim  to  himself,  and  for  his  own  use,  by  virtue 
of  his  marital  rights,  Mr.  II.  said  he  would  have  felt 

O 

great  reluctance  in  complying  with  that  demand. 
But  he  had  wisely  consented  that  the  amount  should 
be  paid  to  his  son,  the  only  grandchild  of  Col.  John 
Laureiis ;  and  believing  that  his  mother  was  suitably 
provided  for,  and  that  the  best  direction  the  money 
could  possibly  take,  was  to  make  a  provision  for  that 
young  man,  at  the  commencement  of  his  career  in 


54          MEMOIR  OF  JOHN  LAURENS. 

life,  Mr.  H.  was  satisfied  with  the  bill,  as  reported  by 
the  committee,  and  should  give  it  his  vote. 

"  Mr.  Hayne  said  he  was  happy  in  being  able  to  add 
that  he  believed  the  grandson  to  be  a  respectable 
young  man,  who  was  preparing  himself  for  the 
practice  of  an  honorable  profession  in  the  country; 
and  he  indulged  the  hope  that  he  would  become  a 
valuable  citizen,  and  prove  himself  worthy  of  his 
ancestors." 


LINE  S 

ON  THE  DEATH  OF  COLONEL  LAURENS. 


BY  PHILIP   FREXEAU. 


Since  on  her  plains  this  generous  chief  expir'd, 
Whom  sages  honour'd  and  whom  France  aclmir'd  ; 
Does  Fame  no  statues  to  his  memory  raise, 
Nor  swells  one  column  to  record  his  praise 
Where  her  palmetto  shades  the  adjacent  deeps, 
Affection  sighs,  and  Carolina  weeps ! 

Thou,  who  shall  stray  where  death  this  chief  confines, 
Revere  the  patriot,  subject  of  these  lines  : 
Not  from  the  dust  the  muse  transcribes  his  name, 
And  more  than  marble  shall  declare  his  fame 
Where  scenes  more  glorious  his  great  soul  engage, 
Confest  thrice  worthy  in  that  closing  page 
When  conquering  Time  to  dark  oblivion  calls, 
The  marble  totters,  and  the  column  falls. 

LAURENS  !  thy  tomb  while  kindred  hands  adorn, 
Let  northern  muses,  too,  inscribe  your  urn. — 
Of  all,  whose  names  on  death's  black  list  appear, 
No  chief,  that  pcrish'd,  claim'd  more  grief  sincere, 
Not  one,  Columbia,  that  thy  bosom  bore, 
More  tears  commanded,  or  deserv'd  them  more! — 
Grief  at  his  tomb  shall  heave  the  unwearied  sigh, 
And  honour  lift  the  mantle  to  her  eye : 
Fame  thro'  the  world  his  patriot  name  shall  spread, 
By  heroes  envied  and  by  monarchs  read : 


56  MEMOIR   OF  JOHN    LAURENS. 

Just,  generous,  brave  —  to  each  true  heart  allied  : 
The  Briton's  terror,  and  his  country's  pride  ; 
For  him  the  tears  of  war-worn  soldiers  ran, 
The  friend  of  freedom,  and  the  friend  of  man. 

Then  what  is  death,  compar'd  with  such  a  tomb, 
Where  honour  fades  not,  and  fair  virtues  bloom, 
When  silent  grief  on  every  face  appears, 
The  tender  tribute  of  a  nation's  tears ; 
Ah  !  what  is  death,  when  deeds  like  his  thus  claim 
The  brave  man's  homage,  and  immortal  fame  ! 


CORRESPONDENCE  OF  JOHN  LAURENS. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  near  the  Cross  Koads, 

13th  August,  1777. 
My  Dear  Father  : 

We  moved  to  this  place  on  the  10th  hist.  Here  we 
received  the  account  from  Synnepuxent,  and  remain 
at  fault  till  some  more  particular  accomts  of  the  mo 
tions  of  the  enemy  enable  me  to  judge  of  their  designs. 
In  the  meantime  our  soldiers  are  recruiting  in  a  plenti 
ful  country,  as  well  as  strong  drink  and  women  will 
permit  them. 

These  impediments,  however,  to  their  laying  in  a 
stock  of  good  health  are  not  so  general  as  might  be 
expected  in  an  army  situated  as  ours  is. 

The  men  are  exercised  in  smaller  or  greater  numbers 
every  day.  The  country  people  bring  in  a  plenty  of 
vegetables,  &c.  —  and  wre  hear  very  few  complaints 
from  those  immediately  about  us  of  the  violations  of 
private  property.  We  are  all  anxious  to  hear  some 
thing  that  will  give  us  employment  of  a  different  kind 


58  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN   LAURENS. 

from  that  which  we  have  at  present.     My  best  regards 
to  all  our  friends,  and  I  remain  ever 

Your  most  affectionate 
JOHN  LAURENS. 

I  have  no  prospect  yet  of  horses  or  servant, 
The  Honhle  Henry  Laurens,  Esq., 

at  Mrs.  Aries,  Market  street,  near  4th  street. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  21st  August,  1777. 
My  Dear  Father : 

As  we  shall  probably  move  to-morrow,  I  wrrite  to 
inform  you  that  I  must  be  obliged  to  use  your  horses 
and  servant  farther  on  —  there  having  been  no  possi 
bility  of  supplying  myself  with  these  articles  here. 
Shrewsberry  says  his  hat  was  violently  taken  from 
him  by  some  soldiers,  as  he  was  carrying  his  horses 
to  water.  If  James  will  be  so  good  as  to  send  him 
his  old  laced  hat  by  the  bearer,  I  hope  he  will  take 
better  care  of  it, 

If  the  enemy  have  a  design  upon  Charles  Town 
which  does  not  so  clearly  appear  to  me  as  it  does 
to  most  people,  I  hope  we  shall  ruin  the  northern 
branch  of  their  army,  and  that  however  they  may 
for  a  while  distress  an  individual  state,  their  efforts 
against  the  general  confederacy  will  be  less  likely  to 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  o9 

succeed  than  ever.     I  commend  myself  to  your  love 
and  remain 

Your  ever  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esq.,  at  Mrs.  Aries, 
Market  street  near  4th  St.,  Philadelphia. 


My  Dear  Father : 

I  have  just  a  minute  to  beg  the  favor  of  you  to  send 
my  watch  by  Col.  Tilghman :  Messrs.  Pinckney 
and  Horry  arriv'd  here  yesterday,  but  they  could  not 
inform  me  certainly  whether  you  had  employ'd  Hunt 
to  buy  me  a  horse.  I  am  exceedingly  in  want  of  a 
vigorous  steed  that  can  gallop  and  leap  well,  not 
younger  than  four,  but  I  would  rather  have  him  of 
six  or  seven  years  of  age.  Your  kindness  will  excuse 
my  hurry  and  the  trouble  I  give.  The  gentlemen 
above  mention'd  gave  me  pleasure  in  informing  me 
that  you  were  well.  Col.  Tilghman  will  answer 
any  questions  respecting  the  motions  of  the  enemy 
and  our  own. 

Your  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 
BQth  Aucf,  1777. 
The  Iloiible  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr. 


60  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

HEAD  QUARTERS,  near  Potts  Grove, 

26th  Scptem.,  1777. 
My  Dear  Father  : 

Mr.  Forsyth,  the  bearer  of  this,  takes  charge  of 
four  packets  for  you,  two  of  which  I  received  yester 
day  and  two  to-day.  He  has  likewise  two  other 
packets  for  other  members  of  Congress,  one  of  them 
directed  to  your  care.  I  have  desired  him  in  case  of 
your  removal  from  Reading  to  call  on  General  Mifflin 
who  will  have  the  letters  forwarded.  We  shall  move 
towards  Philadelphia  to-day,  as  the  weather  is  fair 
and  our  reinforcements  are  at  some  distance  below, 
ready  to  fall  in  with  us.  Yesterday,  the  enemy 
halted  at  Chestnut  Hill,  not  far  from  Germantown, 
and  there  was  a  cannonading  heard  in  the  morning 
down  the  river.  I  am  your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 
The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr.,  Reading. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  WAMPOLES,  15th  October,  1777. 

"When  an  opportunity  offers,  however  little  I  have 
to  communicate,  my  desire  of  conversing  with  you 
leads  me  to  take  up  the  pen  at  all  events  even  tho'  the 
impossibility  of  giving  you  information  upon  public 
and  more  interesting  objects  should  confine  me  to  the 
old  family  style  of  '  I  continue  in  good  health  as  I  hope 
you  do,'  etc. 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN   LAURENS.  61 

The  northern  intelligence  which  was  accidentally 
handed  to  us  yesterday,  but  which  you  no  doubt  have 
received  in  proper  form,  is  subject  matter  for  con 
gratulation. 

I  beg  leave  to  felicitate  you  upon  the  victory  gained 
over  the  haughty  Burgoyne,  a  victory  which  derives 
much  of  its  importance  from  the  critical  time  in  which 
it  happened.  It  was  announced  to  the  American 
prisoners  in  Howe's  possession  by  a  flag  that  happened 
to  be  going  in  yesterday.  After  all  my  good  intentions 
I  am  obliged  to  break  off  abruptly,  as  Mr.  Harrison 
the  bearer  hurries  me,  and  my  letter  will  serve  only 
to  inclose  one  left  here  yesterday  for  Col.  Pinckney. 

Yours  aft'ectiony 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens  Esqr,  York, 
favor  of  Col°  Harrison. 

1  L"  Gen. 

2  Major  Generals 
7  Brig. 

2  Eng  ) 

-.  T  •  i    VNoblem. 
1  Irish  j 

A  qty  of  Clothing. 
5000  Privats 
15000   Stand  Arms 
40  Brass  Cann" 

The  above  in  the  hand  writing  of  Henry  Laurens  is 
endorsed  on  the  back  of  the  letter  dated  15th  October, 
1777. 


62  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 


HEAD  QUARTERS  —  WMtemarsh  Camp, 

bth  November,  1777. 
My  Dear  Father  : 

In  our  present  camp  form'd  of  two  commanding 
hills,  whose  front  and  flanks  bid  defiance  to  assailants, 
additionally  secured  by  a  very  strong  advanced  post, 
and  well  supplied  with  every  necessary,  we  wait  the 
arrival  of  reinforcements  from  the  north,—  a  part  of 
which  is  on  its  march  and  will  soon  arrive.  What  we 
are  to  do  when  reinforced  depends  upon  circumstances. 

If  our  forts  hold  out  and  we  do  our  duty,  Gen1 
Howe  will  find  himself  in  a  situation  which  will  re 
quire  the  utmost  exertions  of  military  talents  to  bring 
him  off  with  honor.  He  lias  already  experienced 
some  difficulty  in  subsisting  his  troops  and  Tory 
adherents;  perhaps  he  might  have  been  reduced  to  the 
necessity  of  retreating,  if  there  had  been  proper  con 
cert  in  the  proceedings  of  our  fleet  and  garrison. 
The  enemy's  boats  pass  and  repass  at  night,  carry  sup 
plies  from  the  shipping  to  the  town,  and  meet  with 
no  interruption.  The  cannon  of  the  fort  cannot  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  them;  random  firing  would  be  a 
waste  of  precious  ammunition.  The  galleys  alone  can 
be  opposed  to  their  passage,  which  has  been  hitherto 
effected  between  Province  Island  and  Fort  Minim, 
under  cover  of  darkness.  What  this  inactivity  of  the 
galleys  is  owing  to  is  unknown  ;  some  attribute  it  to 
the  jealousy  which  commonly  subsists  between  the 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  63 

officers  of  the  naval  and  land  service  —  a  vitious  spirit 
which  should  not  be  known  in  Republics.  However 
I  have  reason  to  believe  that  this  communication  will 
be  cut  off  for  the  future. 

The  Reinforcements  for  this  army  are  arrived  at 
Red-bank  —  the  intended  addition  has  been  made 
to  the  two  garrisons,  and  the  remainder  will  be 
posted  in  a  proper  situation  for  falling  on  the  rear  of 
any  storming  party,  or  annoying  the  enemy  in  any 
more  formal  attack  011  Red-bank.  This  morning  a 
heavy  cannonading  was  heard  from  below  and  con 
tinued  till  afternoon ;  from  the  top  of  Chew's  house 
in  German  Town  to  which  place  the  General  took  a 
ride  this  morning,  we  could  discover  nothing  more 
than  thick  clouds  of  smoak,  and  the  masts  of  two 
vessels,  the  weather  being  very  hazy. 

This  days  Philadelphia  paper  contains  Gen1  Bur- 
goyne's  Letter  to  Sr  AVm  Howe :  as  I  cannot  send 
you  the  paper  itself  I  copy  the  letter  — 

Copy  of  a  Letter,  $c.,  brought  by  Lieut.  Valancy  of  the  62d. 

ALBANY,  Octob.  20th. 

"Sir: 

In  conformity  to  my  orders  —  to  proceed  by  the 
most  vigorous  exertions  to  Albany,  I  pass'd  the 
Hudson's  River  at  Saratoga  on  the  13th  September. 

"  No  exertions  have  been  left  untried.  The  army 
under  my  command  has  fought  twice  against  great 


64  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

superiority  of  numbers.  The  first  action  was  on  the 
19th  Septem.  when  after  four  hours  sharp  conflict, 
we  remain'd  masters  of  the  field  of  battle.  The  2d 
action  (on  the  7th  October)  was  not  so  successful  and 
ended  with  a  storm  upon  two  parts  of  our  intrench- 
ments,  the  one  defended  by  Lieut.  Col.  Breyman  who 
was  kill'd  upon  the  spot,  and  the  post  was  lost,  the 
other  defended  by  Lord  Balcarras  at  the  head  of  the 
British  Light  Infantry  who  repulsed  the  enemy  with 
great  loss.  The  army  afterwards  made  good  their 
retreat  to  the  heights  of  Saratoga,  unable  to  proceed 
farther,  the  enemy  having  possession  of  all  the  fords 
and  the  passes  on  the  east  side  of  Hudson's  River. 
The  army  waited  the  chances  of  events  and  ofFer'd 
themselves  to  the  attack  of  the  enemy  'till  the  13th 
inst  —  when  only  three  days  provision  at  short  allow 
ance  remained.  At  that  time  the  last  hope  of  timely 
assistance  being  exhausted,  my  numbers  reduced  by 
past  actions  to  three  thousand  five  hundred  fighting 
men,  of  which  about  nineteen  hundred  alone  were 
British;  invested  by  the  enemys  troops  to  the 
amount  of  sixteen  thousand  men ;  I  was  induced  by 
the  general  concurrence  and  advice  of  the  General, 
Field  officers  and  Captains  commanding  Corps,  to 
open  a  Treaty  with  Major  Gen1  Gates.  Your 
Excellency  will  observe  by  the  papers  transmitted 
herewith,  the  disagreeable  prospect  that  attended  the 
first  overtures,  The  army  determined  to  die  to  a 
man,  rather  than  submit  to  terms  repugnant  to 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  65 

national  and  personal  honor.     I  trust  you  will  think 
the  Treaty  inclosed  consistent  with  both. 

I  am  with  the  greatest  respect  and  attachment, 

Sir,  &c., 
(Signed),  J.  BUHGOYNE." 

The  first  overtures  alluded  to  in  the  above  letter. 

1st.  General  Burgoyne's  army  being  exceedingly 
reduced  by  repeated  defeats,  by  desertion,  sickness, 
&c.,  —  their  provisions  exhausted,  their  military  stores, 
tents  and  baggage  taken  or  destroyed,  their  retreat 
cut  off  and  their  camp  invested,  they  can  only  be  al 
lowed  to  surrender  prisoners  of  war. 

Answer.  Lieut.  Gen1  Burgoyne's  army,  however 
reduced,  will  never  admit  that  their  retreat  is  cut 
off,  while  they  have  arms  in  their  hands. 

2.  The  officers  and  soldiers  may  keep  the  baggage 
belonging   to   them.      The   generals    of    the   United 
States  never  permit  individuals  to  be  pillaged. 

3.  The  troops  under  his  excell7  Gen1  Burgoyne  will 
be  conducted  by  the  most  convenient  route  to  N".  Eng 
land,  marching  by  easy  marches,  and  sufficiently  pro 
vided  for  by  the  way. 

4th.  The  officers  will  be  admitted  on  parole,  may 
wear  their  side  arms,  and  will  be  treated  with  the 
liberality  customary  in  Europe,  so  long  as  they  by 
proper  behaviour  continue  to  deserve  it ;  but  those 
who  are  apprehended  having  broke  their  parole  (as 
9 


66  CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

some  British  officers  have  done)  must  expect  to  be 
closely  confined. 

Answer.  There  being  no  officer  in  this  army,  under 
or  capable  of  being  under  the  description  of  breaking 
parole,  this  article  needs  no  answer. 

5th.  All  public  stores,  artillery,  arms,  ammuni 
tion,  carriages,  horses,  &ca.,  must  be  deliver'd  to 
Commissaries  appointed  to  recieve  them. 

Answer.  All  public  stores  may  be  deliver'd  —  arms 
excepted. 

6th.  These  terms  being  agreed  to  and  sign'd,  the 
troops  under  His  Excellys  Gen1  Burgoynes  command 
may  be  drawn  up  in  their  encampment,  where  they 
will  be  order'd  to  ground  their  arms,  and  may  be 
thereupon  march'd  to  the  river  side,  to  be  pass'd  over 
in  their  way  towards  Bennington. 

Answer.  This  article  is  inadmissible  in  any  ex 
tremity  ;  sooner  than  this  army  will  consent  to  ground 
their  arms  in  their  encampment,  they  will  rush  on  the 
enemy  determined  to  take  no  quarter. 

October  14/A,  1777. 

These  overtures  being  rejected  the  present  Conven 
tion  took  place. 

In  this  paper  are  continued  the  proclamations  on 
promising  200  Acres  of  Land  to  each  non  commisioned 
officer,  and  50  to  each  private  who  shall  serve  in  the 
Provincial  Corps  now  raising  —  the  other  marking 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  67 

the  1st  day  of  December  next  as  the  last  term  of 
pardon  for  deserters  from  His  Majesty's  services. 
The  most  remarkable  advertisements  are  —  "  Wanted 
immediately  an  additional  number  of  able  bodied  men, 
to  serve  on  the  city  nightly  parole,  those  desirous  of 
serving  are  to  apply  to  J.  Delaplane  Constable  of  the 
watch.  "Wanted,  a  number  of  hands  to  cut  wood 
during  the  winter  season,  for  the  use  of  the  army  — 
good  encouragement  will  be  given  &ca. 

The  inhabitants  of  Philadelphia,  Germantown  and 
the  country  about  are  desired  to  make  a  return  of 
the  number  of  horses,  waggons,  teams  and  carts  in 
their  possession. 

Those  that  choose  to  hire  their  waggons  by  the  day, 
shall  be  paid  the  customary  price  and  those  who 
conceal  their  waggons,  and  do  not  make  returns  as 
above,  will  have  them  seized. 

KB.  A  number  of  men  wanted  to  drive  waggons  — 
their  pay  shall  be  three  shillings  N.  York  Currency 
and  provisions  found  them." 

The  day  before  yesterday,  Mr  Crouch  and  another 
gentleman  pass'd  thro'  camp  in  their  way  from  the 
eastward  to  Charles  Town.  They  said  they  intended 
to  continue  their  journey  early  the  next  morning.  I 
was  out  till  late  dinner  time  with  the  General,  was 
busy  after  dinner,  and  consequently  had  but  little  time 
for  private  affairs  —  however,  I  accomplished  a  letter 
to  Mrs  Laurens  which  I  enclosed  to  Mr  Gervais  to  be 
forwarded,  giving  him  for  his  pains  as  much  news  as 


68  CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

I  could  recollect  and  commit  hastily  to  paper,  and 
what  will  be  a  treasure  to  him  as  a  Newsmonger, 
Humphrey's  Gazette  of  the  25th.  I  expected  to  have 
been  able  to  procure  another  for  you,  but  have  been 
disappointed. 

The  light  manner  in  which  Count  Donops  affair  is 
related. —  Sr  Wm  Howe's  Kitean  harangue  to  such 
he  would  delude  into  the  loyal  corps  of  which  he  has 
reserved  to  himself  the  Colonelcy  —  and  other  little 
anecdotes,  may  make  it  acceptable  even  a  day  or 
two  hence,  if  you  have  not  already  seen  it,  and  in 
that  time  I  may  get  it  from  some  one  whose  curiosity 
and  that  of  his  circle  is  satisfied  or  called  off  to  some 
thing  more  recent. 

A  day  or  two  ago,  Cap*  Lee  of  the  light  horse  with 
twelve  of  his  troops,  dispersed  a  foraging  party  on 
the  other  side  Schuylkill,  took  a  Captain  of  the 
Queen's  Rangers  (this  is  the  name  given  to  the  new 
levies  of  provincial  troops),  and  seven  privates,  two  of 
whom  were  marines. —  He  gives  us  intelligence  that 
Gen1  Howe's  first  Aid  de  Camp  is  embarked  for 
England  and  that  his  principal  business  is  to  solicit 
speedy  and  large  reinforcements.  This  will  be 
delivered  to  you  by  a  Baron  Frey,  who  brought  a 
letter  of  recommendation  from  Doctor  Franklin  to 
the  General,  and  is  carrying  one  to  Mr  Morris.  He 
left  France  in  August,  at  which  time  he  says  it  was 
the-  serious  opinion  of  people  in  France  that  the  Court 
of  G.  Britain  had  obtained  30,000  Russians. 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  69 

Between  copying  and  composing  I  have  inked  a 
great  deal  of  paper,  and  it  begins  to  be  time  for  me  to 
join  in  the  concert  of  my  snoring  companions,  who 
are  extended  before  the  fire  in  the  style  which  we 
practiced  in  the  interior  parts  of  So.  Carolina.  I 
wish  you  as  sound  sleep  with  the  cares  of  state  as  I 
am  likely  to  have,  and  continue  in  every  circum 
stance  and  situation  my  dear  father. 

Your  most  dutiful 

JOHN  LAURENS. 
The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  7th  November,  1777. 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  writing  to  you  yesterday  by 
Col°  Morgan,  and  the  day  before  by  Baron  Frey,  a 
stranger  lately  arrived  from  France  who  is  gone  to 
offer  his  service  to  Congress.  The  cannonading 
heard  day  before  yesterday  was  between  the  Somerset 
64  Gun  Ship,  the  Roebuck  and  some  other  vessel  on 
the  one  part,  and  our  row-gallies  seconded  by  a  two 
gun  battery  on  the  other  —  the  affair  was  as  follows  : 

The  above  mentioned  vessels  advanced  towards  our 
chevaux  de  frise  —  Gen1  Varnum  had  thrown  up  a 
fascine  battery  on  a  commanding  piece  of  ground 
below  Red-bank,  and  order'd  an  eighteen  pounder 
and  a  twelve  pounder  to  be  moved  into  it.  The 
eighteen  pounder  was  overset  in  its  way,  which 
accident  prevented  its  arrival  before  two  o'clock.  In 


70  CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

the  intermediate  time,  however,  the  piece  of  twelve, 
was  well  employed  —  the  ships  dropped  down  to  the 
distance  of  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  battery,  and 
the  Somerset  ran  aground,  in  which  situation  she 
underwent  a  constant  Fire  from  the  Battery,  which 
Gen1  Varnnm  thinks  must  have  injur'd  her  exceed 
ingly.  She  made  several  signals  of  distress,  upon 
which  our  Commodore  with  a  great  force  advanced 
towards  her  and  made  a  dreadful  hut  ineffectual 
roaring  with  his  cannon  —  the  Roebuck,  with  the  third 
vessel  whose  name  I  dont  recollect  and  a  galley, 
brought  their  bow  guns  to  bear  on  our  fleet  and 
kept  them  at  a  respectful  distance.  The  flood  made, 
and  the  Somerset  moved  slowly  off  under  cover  of  the 
other  ships. —  She  received  farewell  salutes  from  the 
battery  as  long  as  she  continued  within  reach. 

Our  anxiety  had  been  raised  in  camp,  by  a  report 
that  a  heavy  firing  of  musquetry  had  been  heard  for  a 
considerable  time  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day  — 
it  turns  out  to  be   nothing  more   than  a  few  single 

CI?  O 

guns  which  Potter's  militia  and  the  enemy's  detach 
ment  011  Province  Island  make  a  practice  of  firing 
at  each  other  without  com8  to  any  action.  Four 
deserters  from  the  enemy  brought  in  this  morning,  say 
that  the  militia  men  call'd  to  the  British  soldiers  and 
invited  them  to  go  over,  promising  them  beef  and 
flour  —  the  red-coats  in  return  ask'd  them  to  come 
and  partake  of  tlieir  salt  —  that  from  raillery  they 
proceeded  to  abuse-  and  at  length  to  discharging 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  71 

tlicir  pieces  at  each  other,  without  any  other  effect  as 
far  as  they  know  than  wounding  a  Hessian  yager. 

There  have  been  several  women  from  Pha  within 
two  days  past,  who  have  applied  for  leave  to  pass  into 
the  country  —  declaring  that  unless  this  indulgence 
be  granted  to  them,  they  must  inevitably  starve. 
Our  humane  General  says  he  will  grant  their  request 
upon  condition  that  they  do  not  return  into  the  city, 
and  I  believe  directions  are  given  for  that  purpose  to 
the  officers  commanding  sub-posts,  who  have  hitherto 
stopt  them. 

Rubenhaupt,  the  Dutch  general  who  conducted  the 
celebrated  siege  of  Grave,  shielded  by  national  phlegm 
against  any  impression  from  female  and  infantine  dis 
tress,  rudely  sent  back  into  the  town  crowds  of 
women  and  children,  who  presented  themselves  in  his 
camp  to  entreat  that  he  would  deliver  them  from  the 
horrors  of  famine  by  suffering  them  to  pass  his  lines. 

The  polite  and  gallant  Prince  of  Conde,  upon  a 
similar  application,  when  he  was  particularly  called 
upon  not  to  act  inconsistently  with  the  amiable 
characteristic  of  his  countrymen  —  the  women  of  the 
besieged  town  who  petitioned  his  leave  to  quit  it, 
saying  "  they  were  persuaded  a  French  Nobleman 
could  not  be  so  impolite  as  to  reject  the  prayer  of 
unfortunate  ladies—  "  dexterously  parried  this  artful 
address  to  his  feelings  as  a  Frenchman,  by  replying 
that  "he  could  not  consent  to  deprive  himself  of  the 
most  desirable  part  of  his  conquest." 


72  COEEESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAUEENS. 

I  write  this  to  go  by  James,  who  came  to  Head 
Quarters  this  morning  to  see  me  and  take  my  com 
mands.  I  happen'd  to  be  out  with  the  General  when 
he  arrived,  and  did  not  know  of  his  being  here  'till 
after  dinner,  which  according  to  our  late  hour,  made 
it  near  evening  —  and  as  I  had  a  second  ride  to  take 
I  detained  him  for  the  rest  of  the  day.  Mrs.  Hartley 
is  too  far  from  camp  for  me  to  pay  her  my  respects. 
If  James  returns  that  way,  I  will  write  her  a  note  of 
thanks  for  her  care  of  your  letter  of  26th  Octobr  which 
I  received  yesterday. 

8th.  His  Excellency  detains  James  in  order  to  write 
by  him  to  Congress  —  I  congratulate  you,  upon  your 
succession  to  the  Presidentship,  tho'  we  shall  not 
know  you  in  that  capacity  at  Head  Quarters  'till  you 
are  announced. 

Permit  me  to  say,  that  I  have  the  honour  to  be 
with  as  much  respect  for  your  public  station,  as  any 
citizen  in  the  United  States,  and  with  an  increasing 
flow  of  filial  affection. 

Your  dutiful  son, 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

I  wrote  yesterday  to  St.  Mary  Axe,  under  cover  to 
Babut  and  Labouchere,  by  way  of  New  Orleans,  and 
committed  my  packet  to  the  care  of  Col°  Morgan. 

Since  writing  as  above,  I  have  received  your  kind 
favor  of  the  4th. 

The  Hon'ble  Henry  Laurens,  Esq. 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  73 

HEAD  QUARTERS,  9th  November,  1777. 
My  Dear  Father : 

Colonel  du  PortaiPs  visit  to  Congress  gives  me  an 
opportunity  of  relating  some  little  transactions  which 
serve  by  way  of  interlude  to  the  grand  acts  of  the 
military  drama.  Capt.  Craig  of  Moylan's  Light  Dra 
goons,  with  sixteen  horsemen  surprised  one  of  the 
enemy's  patrols  this  morning,  consisting  of  seven 
horse  and  seven  grenadiers  and  took  the  whole  party 
prisoners  without  a  stroke  on  either  side.  The  same 
officer  informs  us  this  afternoon  from  authority  which 
he  thinks  good,  that  fifteen  of  the  enemy's  provision 
boats  have  fall'n  into  our  hands. 

We  have  received  accounts  from  different  persons 
that  one  of  their  floating  batteries  was  sunk  in  launch 
ing. 

From  the  preparations  made  and  every  account 
obtained  from  deserters,  spies,  &c.,  we  have  reason  to 
expect  every  day  a  pow'rful  attack  on  Fort  Minim. 

General  Yarnum  has  reinforced  the  garrison  from 
his  brigade,  and  such  a  disposition  is  made  of  our 
naval  and  land  force  in  that  quarter  as  will  make  a 
greater  sacrifice  the  price  of  success,  than  I  think  Mr 
Howe  in  his  present  circumstances  can  afford.  This 
evening,  Cap'  ^Nichols  of  the  Eagle  packet  with  the 
Cap*  of  an  armed  sloop,  were  brought  to  Head  Quar 
ters —  they  were  made  prisoners  by  a  detachment 
from  Cap*  Lee's  troop,  and  as  Nichols  mentioned  his 

being  acquainted  with  some  gentlemen  of  Carolina, 
10 


74  CORKESrONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

Cap*  Lee  gave  him  a  recommendatory  letter  to  me. 
The  honest  seaman,  tho'  he  says  his  vessel  was  order'd 
to  be  in  readiness  for  sailing  at  a  moment's  warning, 
seems  to  be  affected  by  his  misfortune  and  expresses 
as  hearty  rejoicing  at  the  welfare  of  President  Lau- 
rens  as  if  he  were  a  loyal  subject  to  his  master.  lie 
says  that  Pond  wTas  on  shore  with  him  and  narrowly 
escaped  accompanying  him  hither. 

I  am  sorry  to  deduct  from  your  pleasure  by  striking 
out  the  story  of  the  provision  boats.  Upon  reading 
Gen1  Varnum's  letter  of  yesterday,  I  find  mention  of 
a  convoy  being  driven  back  by  our  gallics  ;  the  delay 
of  their  arrival  has  probably  given  room  to  conjecture 
in  Philadelphia  that  they  had  been  taken. 

10th.  I  have  just  return'd  from  an  early  walk  to  an 
eminence  in  front  of  the  camp,  where  I  had  been 
listening  to  the  tremendous,  tho'  distant  roaring  of 
cannon.  It  is  probable  that  this  infernal  noise  is  only 
a  prelude  to  the  more  dangerous  closer  fight  which 
has  been  so  long  meditated  by  the  British  and  which 
both  parties  are  prepared  for. 

Will  you  be  so  kind  as  to  tell  me  the  orthography 
of  galley,  whether  it  be  as  already  written,  or  thus 
gaily. 

Your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

The  Ilonble  Henry  Laurens,  Esq., 
President  of  Congress,  York. 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  75 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  14th  Novem.,  1777. 
My  Dear  Father  : 

Since  I  had  the  pleasure  of  writing  to  you  by 
Baron  Frey,  and  the  Chevalier  du  Portail,  the  siege 
of  Fort  Mifflin  has  been  continued  with  great  vigour 
and  the  new  batteries  open'd  by  the  enemy  on  the 
10th  have  thrown  their  24  and  32  pounders  with 
great  success.  A  considerable  breach  was  made  on 
the  llth  in  the  masonry  of  the  fort,  many  palisades 
were  level' d,  the  block  houses  almost  ruin'd,  several 
cannon  dismounted,  and  a  valuable  artillery  officer 
kill'd.  In  these  circumstances  the  commanding  offi 
cer  Lieut.  Col.  Smith  thought  proper  to  consult  with 
Brigadier  Gen1  Varnum  who  is  stationed  at  Wood- 
berry  near  Fort  Mercer  on  Red  Bank,  upon  the 
propriety  of  evacuating  the  post.  It  was  determined 
that  the  superfluous  cannon,  provisions  and  artillery 
stores  should  be  removed  and  that  a  show  of  de 
fence  should  be  kept  up  as  long  as  possible.  The 
commander  in  chief  considering  the  importance  of 
this  place,  which  if  it  should  fall  into  the  enemy's 
hands  would  enable  them  to  annoy  our  fleet  and  even 
drive  it  from  the  defence  of  the  chevaux  de  frise,  at 
first  gave  positive  orders  to  maintain  it  at  all  events. 
These,  however,  were  changed  for  discretionary  orders 
in  consequence  of  the  great  injury  which  the  works 
had  sustained.  On  the  night  of  the  llth  the  enemy's 
fire  interrupted  the  repairs  of  the  fort.  Three  of 


76  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

their  small  vessels  pass'tl  between  Province  Island 
and  the  fort  to  the  mouth  of  the  Sclmylkil.  On  the 
12th  there  was  a  great  firing  and  two  eighteen 
pounders  dismounted.  At  night  the  enemy  threw 
shells  and  the  garrison  was  alarmed  by  thirty  of  their 
boats.  On  the  13th  they  open'd  a  new  battery;  our 
block  houses  were  destroyed ;  each  day  there  were  a 
few  kill'd  and  wounded.  The  garrison  exhausted  by 
watching  labour  and  ill  health  have  been  relieved. 
The  enemy  have  not  been  tempted  by  the  success  of 
their  batteries  to  storm  a  small  number  of  men  who 
maintained  their  ground  in  the  ruins  of  the  fort. 
I  certainly  think  it  practicable  by  nocturnal  labours 
to  complete  a  work  which  will  bid  defiance  to  storm, 
and  cover  the  garrison  from  their  32  pounders.  The 
engineer  who  is  on  the  spot,  Major  Floury,  a  French 
man,  will  do  every  thing  that  can  be  done.  His  zeal 
and  talents  recommend  him  to  public  notice.  To 
night  the  enemy  have  renewed  their  tiring. 

13th.  Nothing  like  a  storm  yet  from  the  detach 
ment  on  Province  Island.  They  content  themselves 
with  battering  by  day,  and  interrupting  as  much  as 
they  can  our  fatigue  parties  at  night  by  firing  from 
time  to  time  —  in  which  the  moonlight  is  serviceable 
to  them. 

14th.  Early  this  morning  a  floating  battery  armed 
with  two  heavy  cannon  was  discover'd  near  the  shore 
of  Province  Island.  The  new  commandant  at  Fort 
Mifnin  thinks  the  post  tenable  in  spite  of  the  enemy's 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  77 


land  and  water  batteries.  The  Engineer  Fleury  says 
if  lie  is  supplied  from  Red  Bank  with  fascines, 
gabions,  earth  and  fatigue-men,  he  will  repair  as 
much  as  possible  each  night  the  havoc  made  by  day. 
What  he  will  principally  aim  at  will  be  the  construc 
tion  of  some  flanked  work  (shaped  according  to  cir 
cumstances)  which  in  case  the  block  houses  shd  be 
irreparably  lost,  may  enable  the  garrison  to  resist  a 
storm. 

15.  There  has  been  firing  in  the  course  of  the  day 
and  some  scatter'd  guns  in  the  evening. 

16.  Every  account  given  by  persons  of  different  sexes 
and  ages  who  have  left  Philadelphia  agrees  in  these 
points,  that  the  inhabitants  are  exceedingly  distressed 
for  want  of  provision.     Officers  and  soldiers  humbled 
by  the  unexpected  resistance  of  the  forts,  begin  to 
express   great   anxiety   on    account   of  their   present 
situation  —  that   our  unhappy  prisoners   are    treated 
with  a  barbarity  which  I  think  the  Britons  can  only 
venture  to  be  guilty  of,  because  they  persuade  them 
selves  the  relation  of  it  will  not  be  believed  in  the 
present  refined  age. 

Gentlemen  retum'd  from  reconnoitering  on  the 
other  side  of  Schuylkil  say  that  the  Continental  flag 
was  flying  at  Fort  Mifnin  yesterday  evening, —  that  the 
enemy  by  lightering  a  frigate  of  her  guns  had  towed 
her  through  a  shallow  channel  between  Hog  Island 
and  Province  Island. 

With  this  you  will   receive   a  Philadelphia  paper 


78  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

and  a  printed  handbill  which  is  one  of  a  great  number 
lately  found  in  a  chest  at  East  Town.  The  direction 
of  the  chest  is  rubb'd  off  and  there  were  no  manu 
scripts  within  by  which  the  owner  could  be  discover'd; 
each  handbill  was  inscribed  with  the  address  which 
you  see  on  this.  Cap'  Robinson  calls  for  my  letter. 

Adieu  my  dear  Father. 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

I  had  closed  my  letter  persuaded  that  Fort  Mifflin 
was  still  ours,  when  an  officer  from  Red  Bank  enter'd 
with  Gen1  Yarnum's  dispatches.  The  enemy's  fire 
yesterday  was  universal.  Ships,  batteries,  land  and 
water,  one  of  the  latter  stationed  near  the  fort  threw 
in  hand  grenades  —  our  brave  garrison  suffer'd  consi 
derably —  some  of  our  best  officers  wounded  —  and 
Gen1  Yarnum,  I  suppose,  ordered  the  fort  to  be 
evacuated  last  night.  The  fort  has  done  infinitely 
more  than  was  expected  of  it,  and  we  must  repair  its 
loss. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  18th  Novem.,  1777. 
My  Dear  Father : 

Your  kind  letter  of  the  12th,  concluded  on  the  15th, 
has  been  deliver'd  to  me  barely  time  enough  to  run  it 
over. 

The  express  is  to  be  sent  back  immediately  with 
dispatches  that  were  ready,  so  that  I  shall  have  but 
few  moments  allowed  me  for  writing  to  you.  The 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  79 

little  innovation  in  the  epithet  applied  to  Gen1  Howe's 
oration,  I  took  the  liberty  of  forming  from  Kite,  a 
character  in  the  comedy  of  the  Recruiting  Officer, 
and  meant  to  draw  a  parallel  between  the  sergeant's 
harangue  and  that  of  the  General  —  but  upon  recol 
lection  I  believe  I  have  done  the  former  an  injustice  — 
who  confined  his  promises  to  more  practicable  things. 
I  shall  not  now  have  time  to  give  you  my  dear  Father 
a  particular  account  of  the  progress  of  the  besiegers 
and  persevering  defence  of  our  brave  garrison,  to  the 
time  when  perpetual  hail  of  musquetry  and  hand 
grenades  from  the  round  tops  of  the  Empress  of 
Russia,  an  East  Indiaman  cut  down  and  converted 
into  a  floating  battery  of  18  twenty-four  pounders, 
made  it  impossible  for  men  to  do  any  thing  more  in 
the  fort  than  sacrifice  themselves  unrevenged.  I  hate 
to  blame  without  sure  grounds ;  but  as  far  as  I  can 
judge  at  this  distance,  the  naval  department  has  been 
deficient  in  its  duty.  The  Commodore  is  brave,  but 
has  no  command.  The  questions  now  are  —  can  we 
prevent  the  enemy's  raising  the  chevaux  de  frise  by 
keeping  possession  of  Red  Bank  or  Fort  Mercer  —  if 
the  enemy  should  eftect  a  lodgment  on  Mud  Island 
can  our  fleet  maintain  its  present  position  ?  Is  it  not 
possible  to  take  the  Empress  of  Russia,  and  sink  an  ob 
struction  in  the  channel  thro'  which  she  pass'd  ?  I  say 
yes  to  them  all,  except  the  second  —  and  the  enemy's 
lodgm*  may  be  prevented. 

You,  my  dear  father  will  call  me  a  presumptuous 


80  CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

young  man,  especially  when  you  hear  that  three  gene 
ral  officers  are  gone  to  investigate  these  points  on  the 
spot.  Pardon  the  manner  of  my  letter,  in  consideration 
that  I  have  been  endeavouring  to  satisfy  the  problem 
which  requires  the  most  written  in  the  least  given 
time.  Chagrined  at  the  necessity  of  taking  leave  so 
abruptly,  I  console  myself  with  the  prospect  of  writing 
more  deliberately  in  a  day  or  two. 

Your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 
The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esrf., 

President  of  Congress,  York. 


HEAP  QUARTERS,  26th  Nor  cm.,  1777. 
My  Dear  Father : 

Mr  Boudinot,  commissary  of  prisoners  informs  me 
that  he  intends  for  York  to  morrow,  and  if  I  understand 
him  right,  wishes  that  I  would  give  him  a  letter  of 
introduction  to  you.  He  is  a  sensible  man  and  atten 
tive  to  the  duties  of  his  office. 

Your  kind  letter  of  the  23d  announces  a  very  accept 
able  reinforcement  of  linnen  for  which  I  am  exceed 
ingly  obliged  to  you  —  the  boots  will  come  in  good 
time  —  those  which  I  wear  at  present  are  in  good 
condition,  but  where  they  undergo  sucli  hard  duty  as 
they  do  in  the  service  of  an  aide  de  camp,  a  relief  is 
necessary.  The  gloves  are  not  so  indispensible,  I 
have  discover'd  an  old  pair  which  have  been  washed 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  81 

and  serve  me  with  reparation ;  the  woolen  ones 
however  will  be  an  exceeding  good  reserve. 

I  believe  your  question  relative  to  the  proceedings 
of  the  enemy  since  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Mimin, 
has  been  answered  in  one  of  my  former  letters. 

Troops  from  Province  Island  immediately  possess'd 
themselves  of  the  ruin'd  wall  and  palisades,  and  threw 
up  a  battery.  At  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Mercer  a 
quantity  of  powder  was  fired  with  intention  to  blow 
up  the  magazine  and  ruin  the  works  —  however,  it  had 
but  little  effect,  and  the  destruction  was  completed  by 
the  enemy. 

Gen1  Greene  had  prepared  to  give  Ld  Cornwallis 
battle,  when  he  was  call'd  oft'  by  a  grand  scheme 
which  was  in  agitation  the  day  before  yesterday.  An 
attack  was  meditated  on  the  enemy's  lines ;  a  proper 
disposition  was  plann'd  for  attacking  their  redoubts 
vigorously  in  front,  while  Greene's  detachment  em- 
bark'd  in  boats  should  fall  down  the  river  land  in  the 
city  and  charge  the  enemy  in  their  rear.  A  cannon 
ade  from  an  eminence  on  the  west  side  of  Schuylkil 
was  to  second  these  attacks  and  Potter's  Militia  were 
to  make  a  show  at  the  bridge.  Some  were  clearly 
for  it  and  some  clearly  against  it ;  both  parties  ignorant 
at  the  same  time  of  the  strength  of  the  works.  Our 
Commander  in  chief  wishing  ardently  to  gratify  the 
public  expectation  by  making  an  attack  upon  the 
enemy  —  yet  preferring  at  the  same  time  a  loss  of 
popularity  to  engaging  in  an  enterprise  which  he  could 
11  ' 


82  CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

not  justify  to  his  own  conscience  and  the  more  respect 
able  part  of  liis  constituents,  went  yesterday  to  view 
the  works.  A  clear  sunshine  favoured  our  observa 
tions  :  we  saw  redoubts  of  a  very  respectable  profit, 
faced  with  plank,  formidably  fraised,  and  the  inter 
vals  between  them  closed  with  an  abbatis  unusually 
strong.  General  du  Portail  declared  that  in  such 
works  with  five  thousand  men  he  would  bid  defiance 
to  any  force  that  should  be  brought  against  him.  I 
was  led  into  all  the  history  which  I  must  beg  my  dear 
father  may  be  very  discreet  —  but  now  no  secret  — 
however  my  friends  in  Carolina  may  talk  of  things 
they  know  without  quotation  — I  know  my  few  friends 
there  are  also  discreet,  between  ourselves  —  in  order 
to  account  for  Gen1  Greene's  not  marching  to  Ld  Corn- 
wallis  —  as  every  man  of  experience  and  judgment, 
thinks  it  would  be  madness  with  our  force  to  make  an 
attempt  on  the  enemy  in  their  present  situation. 

It  follows  that  in  order  to  guard  against  Ld  Corn- 
wallis's  being  suddenly  recall'd,  and  the  enemy's 
marching  with  their  whole  force  against  our  army, 
weakened  by  a  considerable  detachment,  we  should 
withdraw  Gen1  Greene  from  the  Jerseys  —  and  a 
courier  has  been  accordingly  dispatched  for  that 
purpose.  When  the  junction  is  form'd  we  shall 
probably  march  to  some  place  where  the  troops  may 
be  cover'd  from  the  inclemency  of  the  season,  and  be 
within  distance  for  annoying  the  enemy's  shipping 
and  cutting  ofT  any  detachments  which  they  may 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  83 

have  occasion  to  make.  A  position  on  the  other  side 
of  Sclmylkil  would  unite  these  two  advantages  and 
have  the  additional  ones  of  being  in  a  more  plentiful 
country  for  forage,  &ca.,  and  reducing  the  enemy  to 
the  passage  of  a  bridge  in  case  they  should  attempt  a 
sudden  attack  upon  us.  German  Town  would  cover 
a  great  many  troops,  but  it  would  require  strong  wTorks 
to  secure  it,  and  is  within  surprising  distance. 

I  was  going  to  speak  privately  of  several  public 
matters,  but  the  horses  are  order'd,  and  what  I  write 
must  be  dispatched  hastily.  The  promotion  of  Col. 
"Wilkinson  to  the  rank  of  Brigadr  General  has  given 
universal  disgust  in  the  corps  of  Continental  officers. 
If  he  had  signalized  himself,  say  many  of  them,  by 
any  remarkable  service,  we  should  have  applauded 
Congress  for  bestowing  a  well  merited  reward;  but 
we  think  there  is  a  degradation  of  rank  and  an  injus 
tice  done  to  senior  and  more  distinguished  officers, 
when  a  man  is  so  extraordinarily  advanced  for  riding 
post  with  good  news.  Let  Congress  reward  him  with 
a  good  horse  for  his  speed,  but  consecrate  rank  to 
merit  of  another  kind. 

This  matter  is  likely  to  produce  many  resignations 
in  the  line  of  colonels.  Rank  has  likewise  been 
vilified  by  the  indiscriminate  distribution  of  it.  Wag 
gon  masters,  regimental  quarter  masters,  &ca.,  have 
had  titles  which  cease  to  be  honorable  when  possessed 
by  such  personages. 

I  had  some  other  things  to  say  —  but  I  believe  I 


84  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

shall  be  better  employed  for  the  present  in  sending 
you  such  extracts  as  I  sliall  have  time  to  cull  from  the 
last  Philadelphia  paper.  I  give  you  the  paragraphs 
quoted  from  the  English  papers  first  because  I  am  sure 
they  will  amuse  you. 

"  The  great  outline  of  the  intended  operations  is 
"  said  to  be  this.  If  France  does  not  absolutely  relin- 
"  quish  her  present  treacherous  conduct,  which  gives 
"  her  all  the  advantages  of  a  war  without  any  of  the 
"dangers  and  losses  —  to  declare  war  against  her; 
"  to  send  50,000  foreign  troops  to  America,  which  are 
"actually  agreed  for;  to  call  home  the  frigates  and 
"  let  them  loose  on  the  French  commerce,  and  to  form 
"  a  grand  expedition  with  Gen1  Howe's  army  against 
"the  W.  India  Islands;  to  cede  Gibralter  and  a  sugar 
"  island  to  Russia,  on  condition  of  the  Empress  send- 
"ing  40,000  men  to  North  America.  What  seems  to 
"  confirm  these  circumstances  is  a  commission  going 
"  to  Holland  to  engage  transports. 

[The  above  appear'd  in  the  London  papers,  a  few 
days  before  the  court  of  France  had  order'd  the  rebel 
vessels  out  of  their  ports,  and  prohibited  the  sale  of 
their  prizes.] 

PHILADELPHIA. 

"  Last  Thursday  afternoon  the  rebels  at  Red-bank, 
horribly  panick  struck  with  the  loss  of  their  fort  at 
Mud  Island,  which  they  looked  upon  as  inaccessible 
and  indeed  was  ama/ingly  strong —  blew  up  their 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  85 

magazine  and  fled  from  their  fortifications  which,  they 
had  been  preparing  for  these  six  or  seven  weeks  past, 
with  all  the  speed  they  were  masters  of,  depending 
intirely  on  the  nimbleness  of  their  heels  for  their 
safety,  and  were  heard  by  many  of  the  citizens  who 
were  on  the  wharves  looking  at  the  vessels  on  fire, 
to  cry  with  the  greatest  vociferation,  'Damn  you  — 
drive  on  —  drive  on  —  run  my  boys — the  English  are 
coming. ' 

"  The  same  evening  the  brave  commander  of  their 
fleet  deserted  by  these  their  gallant  comrades,  set  fire 
to  two  of  their  vessels,  and  sent  them  towards  the  city 
with  the  flood  tide,  but  not  having  heart  to  put  in 
execution  their  mischievous  designs,  quitted  them 
before  they  reached  the  town  —  when  they  drifted  on 
the  Jersey  shore  and  were  burnt.  Early  the  next 
morning  with  the  first  of  the  flood,  they  would  fain 
have  stolen  by  the  city  with  the  rest  of  the  fleet,  and 
for  this  purpose  sent  their  galleys  on  first,  which  were 
so  warmly  saluted  by  the  different  batteries  along  shore 
and  by  the  Delaware  frigate,  that  it  induced  them 
rather  to  trust  terra-firma  than  their  floating  fortresses 
for  the  security  of  their  persons,  and  setting  fire 
to  their  ships,  kebecs,  brigs,  schooners,  sloops,  &ca., 
abandoned  them  —  leaving  their  rigging,  sails  and 
every  thing  else  on  board,  to  the  mercy  of  the  flames, 
which  burnt  with  such  rapidity  that  it  was  impossible 
to  save  any  part.  Some  of  the  vessels  drove  opposite 
to  the  town,  where  the  fire  reaching  the  guns  which 


86  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

wore  loaded,  they  went  off,  and  shortly  after  their 
magazines  blew  up  with  great  explosions,  but  hap 
pily  did  no  damage.  In  the  conflagration,  eight  or 
nine  topsail  vessels  were  consumed.  Thus  was  a  fleet 
that  cost  the  Congress  and  this  province  some  hundred 
thousand  pounds,  to  their  burning  shame  destroyed 
in  a  few  hours. 

"  It  is  with  the  greatest  satisfaction  the  printer  con 
gratulates  his  fellow  citizens  upon  the  happy  fulfilment 
of  his  hopes  express'd  in  one  of  his  former  papers, 
'  that  we  shd  shortly  have  the  fleet  lying  before  this 
city' — and  upon  the  happy  renewal  of  business. 
Nothing  can  afford  every  well- wisher  to  the  prosperity 
of  this  province  greater  joy  than  the  present  pleasing 
view  of  our  wharfs  crowded  with  vessels  and  merchan 
dise  of  every  kind. 

"  Saturday  morning  last  about  7  o'clock  a  pretty 
smart  shock  of  an  earthquake  was  felt  in  this  city. 
It  is  about  14  years  since  any  thing  of  an  earthquake 
has  been  felt  here  before. 

"  "Whereas,  notwithstanding  the  general  agreement 
of  the  inhabitants  of  this  city  — '  That  such  legal  paper 
money  as  has  been  emitted  by  acts  of  assembly,  and 
received  the  royal  sanction,  should  be  received  in  all 
payments,  and  deemed  of  equal  value  with  gold  and 
silver  at  the  old  customary  rates,  in  the  said  agree 
ment  specified  —  sundry  persons  lately  arrived  in  this 
city,  and  even  some  who  have  signed  the  said  agree 
ment,  do  now  refuse  to  take  the  said  paper  money 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  87 

and  make  a  difference  in  the  prices  if  they  can  be  paid 
in  gold  and  silver  —  thereby  taking  an  injust  advan 
tage  of  the  necessity  of  the  times,  striving  to  embarrass 
the  public  affairs,  to  destroy  the  chief  medium  of 
our  commerce  and  prevent  the  negotiating  bills  of 
exchange.  "We  therefore  to  discourage  practices  so 
selfish  and  injurious  to  the  public,  do  hereby  engage  to 
each  other  and  the  public  upon  our  honor  that  we 
will  not  directly  or  indirectly  deal  with  any  person  or 
persons  whatsoever  who  shall  refuse  to  take  the  said 
paper  money  in  their  payments,  or  make  any  difference 
between  the  value  thereof  and  gold  and  silver  as  fixed 
in  the  said  agreement  —  nor  will  we  deal  with  any 
person  or  persons  who  shall  be  known  to  engross  any 
quantity  of  provisions,  with  a  view  to  retail  the  same 
at  an  immoderate  price  to  the  distress  of  the  poor  and 
industrious  housekeepers.  The  above  association  is 
now  signing  by  the  Inhabitants  at  the  Coffee  House.'  ' 

AYe  have  just  received  intelligence  from  Gen1 
Greene  and  the  Marquis  de  la  Fayette  that  Morgan's 
Corps  with  two  pickets  of  militia,  under  the  command 
of  the  Marquis  de  la  Fayette  attacked  the  Hessian 
Picket  consisting  of  300  men,  kill'd  20,  wounded  about 
as  many  and  took  14  prisoners  —  the  picket  was  twice 
reinforced  by  British  —  night  came  on,  and  the  Ame 
ricans  masters  of  the  field  march'd  slowly  to  their 
camp,  having  lost  only  two  men  kill'd  and  three  or  four 
wounded. 


88  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

I  have  barely  time  to  close  with  those  expressions 
of  duty  and  affection  which  it  always  gives  me  pleasure 

to  repeat. 

JOHN  LAURENS. 
27th  Noveni.,  1777. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esof., 
President  of  Congress. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  29th  Novem.,  1777. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  have  just  received  and  hastily  read  over  your  kind 
letter  of  the  27th  and  could  write  a  great  deal  in  answer 
to  it  if  time  or  discretion  would  permit.  This  will 
merely  serve  as  a  cover  to  a  newspaper,  part  of  which 
I  copied  in  my  last.  It  goes  by  a  man  who  is  to  set 
off  immediately  for  York  as  I  am  informed  by  Col. 
Tilghman.  I  am  exceedingly  obliged  to  you  for  the 

gloves,  and  am  ever 

Your  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

I  must  detain  the  messenger,  who  ever  he  be,  while 
I  relate  an  anecdote,  which  will  give  you  some  idea 
of  the  general  misbehaviour  of  our  navy. 

When  their  retreat  up  the  river  was  expected,  the 
Delaware  frigate  was  given  over  for  lost  —  her  guns 
were  taken  out,  and  only  a  few  men  left  in  her  who 
were  to  make  their  escape  immediately  upon  an  attack 
from  our  fleet  which  was  looked  upon  as  an  event  that 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  89 

would  certainly  happen  and  that  could  not  be  other 
wise  than  successful  on  our  side. 

If  it  were  the  custom  for  generals  to  proclaim  their 
intentions,  we  had  a  right  to  expect  an  attack  to-day ; 
however,  it  is  not  amiss  to  he  prepared  for  it.  Gen1 
Greene  has  joined  us,  and  our  forces  are  reunited. 
The  enemy  after  razing  Bilingsport  and  Red  Bank 
have  quitted  the  Jerseys  altogether.  It  appears  that 
two  British  captains  were  kill'd  and  two  wounded  in 
the  Marquis  de  la  Fayette's  combat. 

Upon  looking  into  your  letter  again  I  see  that  I  am 
indebted  to  a  lady  for  the  gloves;  you  will  oblige  me 
by  saying  something  handsome  for  me.  My  letter 
alluded  to,  began  in  the  manner  which  you  describe ; 
it  was  a  kind  of  journal  which  I  had  begun,  and  laid 
by  in  order  to  add  to  it  occasionally. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 
President  of  Congress,  York. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  3d  December,  1777. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  thank  you  for  your  kind  letter  of  the  30th  of  last 
month,  and  the  American  Code  of  Public  Law.  I 
have  given  this  book  not  such  a  reading  as  I  wished, 
but  such  as  my  time  permitted,  and  think  it  contains 
all  the  fundamental  laws  of  a  federative  republic. 

It  is  the  part  of  the  wise  legislative  body  to  make 
12 


90  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

the  union  of  the  states  perpetual  by  procuring  it  the 
sanction  of  popular  opinion. 

If  the  majority  of  the  people  in  each  state,  or  only 
the  majority  of  the  states,  can  he  persuaded  that  it  is 
a  religious  duty,  as  was  the  case  of  the  Greeks  with 
respect  to  the  Amphictioiiic  League,  or  a  duty  to 
themselves  as  most  favouring  their  private  and 
political  interests  to  maintain  the  confederation,  it 
will  he  established  upon  the  most  permanent  basis 
that  human  affairs  admit  of,  and  the  opinion  propa 
gated  by  education  will  pass  to  remote  posterity.  I 
shall  study  these  laws  with  the  greatest  attention  in 
my  retirement. 

We  have  received  several  accounts  from  outposts 
within  a  few  days  past  intimating  that  an  attack  upon 
us  was  meditated.  We  have  in  consequence  prepared 
ourselves,  paraded  our  men  so  as  to  make  them 
acquainted  with  their  ground  and  its  advantages ;  but 
the  enemy  have  remained  within  their  works.  Many 
are  of  opinion  that  Sr  Wm  Howe  will  not  sutler  any 
thing  but  mere  necessity,  or  a  very  tempting  prospect 
of  decisive  success,  to  call  him  from  good  winter 
quarters.  Others  say  that  from  past  experience  lie 
knows  the  vicinity  of  the  Continental  army  to  be 
exceedingly  troublesome,  and  that  it  is  his  interest  to 
drive  us  to  a  more  respectable  distance.  In  the  mean 
time  the  season  advances  in  which  armies  in  general 
are  forced  to  repair  to  more  substantial  shelter  than 
tents,  and  whose  inclemency  is  more  particularly 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  91 

grievous  to  our  ill-clothed  soldiers.  The  question  is 
whether  we  are  to  go  into  remote  winter  quarters, 
and  form  a  chain  of  cantonments  in  the  interior  part 
of  the  country ;  leaving  a  vast  extent  of  territory  ex 
posed  to  the  devastation  of  an  enraged  unsparing 
enemy ;  leaving  inhabitants  who  will  be  partly  seduced 
by  the  expectation  of  gold,  or  more  generally  compell'd 
to  fill  the  traitorous  provincial  corps  now  raising; 
leaving  plentiful  granaries  and  large  stocks  of  cattle, 
ample  means  for  subsisting  the  troops  and  Tory  citi 
zens  in  Philadelphia,  and  for  victualling  transports 
that  may  carry  home  Mr  Burgoyne  and  his  army; 
leaving  the  well  affected  to  fall  a  sacrifice,  and  deplore 
our  abandonment  of  them  and  the  country;  or, 
whether  we  shall  take  a  position  more  honourable,  more 
military,  more  republican,  more  consonant  to  the 
popular  wish  —  in  a  proper  situation  for  covering  the 
country,  or  at  least  so  much  of  it  as  circumstances  will 
permit  —  and  for  distressing  and  annoying  the  Enemy  ? 

Winter  campaigns  it  is  said  are  ominous  to  the  best 
appointed  and  best  disciplined  armies.  The  misery 
incident  to  them  occasions  desertion  and  sickness 
which  waste  their  numbers.  Our  army  in  particular 
requires  exemption  from  fatigue  in  order  to  com 
pensate  for  their  want  of  clothing. 

Relaxation  from  the  duties  of  a  campaign,  in  order 
to  allow  them  an  opportunity  of  being  disciplined  and 
instructed  ;  warm  quarters,  that  it  may  appear  in  the 
spring  with  undiminished  numbers  and  in  the  full 


92  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

prowess  of  health,  &ca.  Besides  it  is  urged  that  the 
hardships  which  our  soldiers  undergo  discourage  men 
from  enlisting.  The  answers  that  might  be  given  in 
our  particular  circumstances  to  these  general  objec 
tions  against  winter  campaigns  are  only  for  your 
private  ear,  and  not  to  be  trusted  in  a  letter  to  the  possi 
bility  of  miscarriage ;  besides,  we  may  take  a  position 
which  will  not  absolutely  expose  us  to  a  winter 
campaign,  but  furnish  us  excellent  quarters  for  men 
at  the  same  time  that  it  leaves  us  within  distance  for 
taking  considerable  advantages  of  the  enemy,  and 
cover  a  valuable  and  extensive  country. 

As  I  hear  that  the  Chevalier  Failly  intends  for  York, 
and  it  seems  to  be  a  matter  of  doubt  whether  any 
dispatches  will  go  from  head  quarters  to-day,  I'll 
finish  my  letter  and  send  it  by  him. 

Gen1  Dickinson  made  a  descent  some  days  ago  on 
Staten  Island  which,  if  lie  had  not  been  betrayed, 
would  have  thrown  into  his  hands  some  very  valuable 
prisoners  and  a  large  number  of  common  ones.  As  it 
was,  he  took  2  lieutenants  and  25  privates ;  made  a 
secure  retreat,  and  lost  only  two  or  three  kill'd  and 
wounded. 

The  trium viral  committee  from  Congress  arrived 
this  evening.  As  much  as  I  desire  to  see  you,  my 
dear  father,  I  fear  an  interview  cannot  be  effected  for 
some  time  to  come.  Col.  Hamilton  who  was  sent  to 
the  Northern  army  to  explain  the  necessity  for  rein 
forcements  from  thence,  lies  danin'rously  ill  on  the 

" 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  93 

road.     Since  the  battle  of  German  Town,  I  have  no 
longer  been  a  supernumerary. 

My  heart  is  ever  with  you, 

Your  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 
The  Honble  Henry  Laurens  Esqr., 

President  of  Congress,  York. 
Favd  by  Mr  Le  Chevalier  De  Failly. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  at  the  Gulf, 

15th  December  1777. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  have  barely  time  to  thank  you  for  your  packet  of 
the  12th,  and  to  express  my  great  concern  at  the  cause 
of  your  confinement.  The  pain  arising  from  your 
malady  must  be  aggravated  by  its  happening  at  a  time 
when  you  have  the  most  important  public  affairs  on 
your  mind ;  but  I  hope  it  will  neither  be  so  durable 
nor  so  grievous  as  you  seem  to  expect.  Your  own 
philosophy  and  the  assurance  of  the  sympathy  of  your 
friends  will  greatly  mitigate  the  evil.  I  return  two 
of  the  letters  which  you  sent  me,  for  your  perusal; 
the  others  were  from  Mw  Laurens;  the  last  dated  gives 
me  a  title  to  expect  her  arrival  in  Carolina  in  com 
pany  with  Mr  Blake's  family. 

The  army  cross'd  the  Schuylkil  on  the  13th  and  has 
remained  encamped  on  the  heights  on  this  side.  Our 
truly  republican  general  has  declared  to  his  officers 
that  he  will  set  the  example  of  passing  the  winter  in 


94  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

a  hut  himself.  The  precise  position  is  not  as  yet 
fixed  upon,  in  which  our  huts  arc  to  be  constructed ; 
it  will  probably  be  determined  this  day;  it  must 
be  in  such  a  situation  as  to  admit  of  a  bridge  of  com 
munication  over  the  Schuylkil  for  the  protection  of 
the  country  we  have  just  left;  far  enough  from  the 
enemy  not  to  be  reached  in  a  day's  march,  and  pro 
perly  interposed  between  the  enemy  and  the  most 
valuable  part  of  this  country  on  this  side  Schuylkil. 
With  anxious  prayers  for  your  recovery, 

I  am  your  most  dutiful  and  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

Berry  received  a  hunting  shirt  and  a  check  shirt. 
If  there  be  any  difficulty  in  getting  him  winter  clothes 
I  believe  he  can  do  without. 

The  last  plundering  and  foraging  party  of  the  ene 
my  under  Ld  Cornwallis  on  this  side  Schuylkil  have 
gone  beyond  themselves  in  barbarous  treatment  of 
the  inhabitants. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens, 

President  of  Congress,  York. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  23d  December  1777. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  enter  properly  into 
the  different  subjects  which  compose  your  letter  of 
the  20th.  In  my  present  circumstances  I  must  content 
myself  with  writing  you  a  short  and  hasty  epistle. 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  95 

The  particulars  of  the  aifair  alluded  to  by  the  Cheva 
lier  de  Failly,  I  took  it  for  granted  you  would  have 
received  in  your  official  letter,  and  therefore  regretted 
the  less  my  want  of  time  to  inform  you  properly  of  it. 
The  matter  was  in  brief  as  follows  :  when  we  march'd 
from  WMtemarah  Camp,  and  were  in  the  act  of  cross 
ing  the  Schuylkil,  we  received  intelligence  that  the 
enemy  were  advancing  on  this  side  of  the  river;  in 
fact  a  ravaging  party  of  four  thousand  under  the  com 
mand  of  Lord  Cornwallis  had  pass'd  the  river  and 
were  driving  Potter's  Militia  before  them.  Two  regi 
ments  of  this  corps,  however,  are  said  to  have  conducted 
themselves  extremely  well  and  to  have  given  the 
enemy  no  small  annoyance  as  they  advanced.  General 
Sullivan  was  Major  Gen1  of  the  day  and  consequently 
conducted  the  march. 

His  division  and  part  of  Wayne's  had  cross'd  the 
river;  being  uncertain  as  to  the  number  of  the 
enemy,  and  dreading  their  advance  in  force.  When 
part  of  the  army  should  be  on  one  side  of  the  river  and 
part  on  the  other  he  order'd  those  troops  to  recross 
and  our  bridge  to  be  render'd  impassible. 

Notice  of  this  was  sent  to  the  Commander  in  Chief, 
and  when  he  arrived  parties  of  the  enemy  were  seen 
on  the  commanding  heights  on  this  side  of  the  river. 
There  was  a  pause  for  some  time  and  consultation  what 
was  to  be  done;  parties  of  horse  in  the  mean  time 
were  detached  to  gain  certain  intelligence  of  the  ene 
my's  number  and  designs. 


96  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

It  was  considered  that  our  army  was  near  a  river 
to  which  it  had  march'd  by  a  narrow  road,  on  each 
side  of  which  thick  woods  render' d  it  impossible  for 
the  army  to  display  itself;  and  that  if  Sr  Wm  Howe  shd 
keep  up  a  show  on  the  opposite  side  Schuylkil,  and  at 
the  same  time  march  in  force  from  Philadelphia  upon 
us,  we  must  in  these  circumstances  inevitably  be 
ruined.  Some  pronounced  hastily  that  the  enemy  had 
received  intelligence  of  our  march,  although  the  reso 
lution  had  been  taken  in  council  only  the  night  before, 
and  that  they  were  prepared  to  oppose  our  passage. 
Gen1  Washington  who  never  since  I  have  been  in  his 
family  has  pass'd  a  false  judgment  on  such  points, 
gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  party  in  view  were 
foragers ;  that  the  meeting  was  accidental,  but,  how 
ever,  the  enemy  might  avail  themselves  of  this  unex 
pected  discovery,  and  might  draw  as  much  advantage 
from  it  as  if  the  rencounter  had  been  premeditated. 

The  intelligence  was  received  that  the  enemy  were 
retiring  in  great  haste,  but  it  did  not  appear  satisfactory, 
and  the  army  was  ordered  to  march  to  the  Swedes 
Ford  three  or  four  miles  higher  up  the  river  and 
encamp  with  the  right  to  the  Schuylkil.  The  next 
morning  the  want  of  provisions  — I  could  weep  tears  of 
blood  when  I  say  it — the  want  of  provisions  render'd  it 
impossible  to  march.  We  did  not  march  till  the  eve 
ning  of  that  day.  Our  ancient  bridge,  an  infamous 
construction  which  in  many  parts  obliged  the  men  to 
march  by  Indian  file,  was  restored,  and  a  bridge  of 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  97 

waggons  made  over  the  Swedes  Ford,  but  fence-rails 
from  necessity  being  substituted  to  plank,  and  furnish 
ing  a  very  unstable  footing,  this  last  served  to  cross  a 
trifling  number  of  troops.  As  the  event  turn'd  out 
Gen1  Sullivan's  retrograde  movement  was  unspeakably 
unlucky.  If  we  had  persevered  in  crossing  in  the 
first  instance,  or  if  we  had  even  crossed  in  the  evening 
of  the  first  day,  the  flower  of  the  British  army  must 
have  fallen  a  sacrifice  to  superior  numbers. 

Among  the  parties  of  horse  that  \vere  out  upon  this 
occasion  a  small  detachment  of  Bland's  Regiment 
composed  of  trumpeter,  farrier,  and  whatever  could 
be  collected  for  the  moment,  their  Col.  at  their  head, 
charged  a  serjeant  and  guard  of  Hessians  and  took 
them  all  prisoners. 

On  the  19th  inst.  we  march'd  from  the  Gulph  to  this 
camp,  head  quarters  at  the  Valley  forge. 

On  the  22nd  at  night  we  received  intelligence  of  a 
large  foraging  party  of  the  enemy  having  pass'd  the 
Schuylkil.  Last  evening  the  22d  Gen1  Potter  wrote  us 
that  General  Howe  is  with  the  foragers,  from  whence 
we  conclude  that  the  greatest  part  of  his  army  is  with 
him.  They  encamped  on  the  other  side  of  Derby 
last  night  —  will  you  believe  it  —  starving  in  a  plenti 
ful  country.  The  utmost  we  could  do  was  to  dispatch 
small  parties  draughted  from  each  brigade  last  night, 
and  to  take  extraordinary  means  for  furnishing  the 
army  with  provisions  to  enable  a  more  respectable 
force  to  inarch  to  the  enemy.  Ld  Stirling's  Division 
13 


98  CORRESPONDENCE   OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

march'cl  to-day  in  order  to  cover  the  country  and 
observe  the  enemy's  motions  till  something  more 
effectual  can  be  done. 

I  have  inquired  whence  this  defect  in  the  Commis 
sariat  Department  arises;  but  this  must  be  defer'd 
till  I  next  have  the  pleasure  of  writing  to  you.  I  have 
barely  time  to  repeat  my  prayers  for  your  speedy  re 
covery,  and  the  assurances  of  the  boundless  love  of  your 

JOHN  LAUREN?. 

Enclosed  are  letters  of  thanks,  one  in  French  and 
an  attempt  at  one  in  English,  by  way  of  translation, 
from  L*  Col.  Fleury.  By  the  bye  my  military  title  is 
L*  Colonel. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 
President  of  Congress,  York. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  1st  Jan.,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  am  much  disappointed  in  being  obliged  to  write 
you  a  short  and  hasty  letter,  and  sorry  to  send  you 
only  the  translation  of  one  of  your  French  pieces. 
Col.  Barton,  who  brought  me  your  letter  of  the  25th, 
made  me  happy  by  informing  me  that  you  were  in  a 
fair  way  of  recovery;  in  that  of  the  23d  that  you  had 
recourse  to  your  old  experiment  of  cold  water.  Gen1 
M°  Intosh  had  told  me  that  you  were  trying  the  effects 
of  this  uncommon  application,  and  it  made  me  uneasy; 
but  I  cannot  help  applauding  it  as  it  lias  succeeded. 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  V\) 

Inclosed  is  a  letter  from  Holland,  and  one  from  Mra 
Manning,  to  which  the  former  served  as  cover.  The 
blunder  of  our  friend  is  unaccountable,  but  I  am  in 
hopes  it  will  not  be  attended  with  the  pernicious  conse 
quence  which  you  seem  to  apprehend,  as  it  will  not 
be  easy  to  ascertain  or  take  hold  of  the  property  which 
you  may  have  in  private  hands  against  the  will  of 
the  party  holding  it.  Capt  Nichols  is  not  yet  returned 
from  Philadelphia ;  I  have  sent  a  message  to  him  by 
the  deputy  Comy  of  prisoners  who  went  in  to-day, 
and  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  Cap'  will  wait  upon  you 
if  he  conies  out  again. 

Gen1  Smallwood  who  commands  a  division  posted 
at  Wilmington,  has  given  us  information  that  upon 
hearing  of  an  armed  brig  being  aground  five  miles 
above  his  post,  he  detached  a  strong  party  with  two 
field  pieces  to  take  her.  The  Cap*  of  the  brig  upon 
the  first  summons  refused  to  surrender,  thinking  the 
party  was  armed  only  with  musquetry  and  prepared 
for  defending  himself;  but  being  undeceived  by 
two  or  three  cannon  shot,  he  struck.  The  prisoners 
taken  on  board  of  her  are  a  British  captain  of  foot, 
67  privates,  the  master  of  the  brig,  12  seamen  and 
about  40  women,  some  of  whom  are  officers'  wives. 
The  cargo  is  said  to  consist  of  clothing  for  soldiers, 
some  arms  and  ammunition,  some  liquors,  officers' 
baggage  and  camp  equipage;  however,  we  do  not 
know  exactly.  The  captain  of  foot  was  too  sulky 
to  be  communicative,  and  the  master  says  the  con- 


100          COERESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

tents  of  the  bales  are  unknown  to  him.  The  brig  is 
armed  with  six  four  pounders  and  a  few  swivels.  A 
sloop  laden  with  pork,  flour,  &ca.,  for  the  Philadelphia 
market  is  likewise  taken  and  will  be  either  burnt  or 
secured  as  circumstances  will  permit. 

The  enemy  returned  to  Philadelphia  last  Sunday 
after  having  completed  their  forage,  without  any  other 
inconvenience  than  a  small  balance  of  prisoners  against 
them.  It  seems  they  had  been  necessitated  to  come 
out  by  having  imprudently  packed  their  former  plunder 
of  hay  before  it  was  thoroughly  dry,  by  which  means 
the  greatest  part  was  damaged  and  they  were  reduced 
to  four  days'  allowance  in  this  article. 

The  soldiers  are  nearly  covered  with  good  huts. 
The  ISTorth  Carolinians  are  the  most  backward  in  their 
buildings,  and  for  want  of  sufficient  energy  to  exert 
themselves  once  for  all,  will  be  exposed  to  lasting  evils. 

The  promotion  of  Gen1  Conway  has  given  almost 
universal  disgust.  His  military  knowledge  and  expe 
rience  may  fit  him  for  the  office  of  inspector  genera], 
but  the  right  of  seniority  violated,  without  any  remark 
able  services  done  to  justify  it,  has  given  a  deep  wound 
to  the  line  of  brigadiers. 

It  is  said  that   the   influence  of  a  certain  general 

O 

officer  at  Reading  is  productive  of  great  mischief. 
When  Gen1  Conway  went  from  camp  he  gave  out  that 
he  meant  to  return  to  France,  his  countrymen  under 
stood  the  manoeuvre ;  it  has  succeeded  to  his  wish, 
and  I  believe  now  he  is  exceedingly  indiffi-rent  whether 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.          101 

lie  acts  Inspr  Gen1  or  no.  I  am  rather  inclined  to  think 
that  he  prefers  returning  with  his  splendid  titles  to 
France,  where  he  hopes  to  obtain  a  lucrative  and 
peaceful  office  in  the  service  of  the  states. 

I  devoutly  pray  that  many  new  years  of  happiness 
may  be  added  to  your  life. 

Your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

The  Chevalier  du  Plessis  who  commanded  the 
artillery  and  acted  as  engineer  at  Fort  Mercer  has 
obtained  a  promise  from  his  Excellency,  to  write  in 
his  behalf  to  Congress  in  order  that  his  merit  may  be 
rewarded  by  promotion  —  as  from  the  improvements 
which  he  made  at  Fort  Mercer  and  his  gallant  conduct 
when  Count  Donop  was  repulsed,  he  deserves  well  of 
the  United  States ;  if  the  general  should  recommend 
him  in  consequence  of  his  promise,  which  I  suppose 
he  will  do  whenever  his  time  permits,  I  would  solicit 
that  the  reasons  for  the  Chevalier's  promotion  may  be 
express'd  in  the  resolve  of  Congress,  which  will  be  of 
great  service  to  him  in  France. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr, 
President  of  Congress,  York. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  3d  Jan.,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

By  this  day's  courier,  you  will  be  informed   of  a 
base  insult  offer'd  to  the  Commander  in  chief,  which 


will  raise  your  indignation. 


102  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

A  preliminary  anecdote  may  throw  some  light  upon 
this  matter.  Some  time  ago,  his  Excy  received  a  letter 
from  a  friend,  enclosing  a  piece  of  paper  with  the  fol 
lowing  words  :  "  In  a  letter  to  Gen1  Gates,  Gen1  Con- 
way  says,  '  Heaven  has  been  determined  to  save  your 
country,  or  a  weak  general  and  bad  counsellors  would 
have  ruined  it.'  The  gen1  immediately  copied  the 
contents  of  the  paper,  introducing  them  with  sir,  and 
concluding  with,  '  I  am  your  humble  serv4,'  and  sent 
this  copy  in  form  of  a  letter  to  Gen1  Conway."  This 
drew  an  answer,  in  which  he  first  attempts  to  deny  the 
fact,  and  then  in  a  most  shameless  manner,  to  explain 
away  the  word  weakness.  The  perplexity  of  his  style, 
and  evident  insincerity  of  his  compliments,  betray  his 
real  sentiments,  and  expose  his  guilt. 

After  this,  he  certainly  had  no  right  to  expect  cor 
diality  on  the  part  of  the  general,  but  he  has  always 
been  treated  with  that  kind  of  civility,  which  resulted 
from  a  consideration  of  his  public  character,  abstracted 
from  his  private  one.  He  experienced  that  kind  of  com 
plaisance,  which  passes  current  in  the  transactions  of 
men,  and  in  which  the  heart  is  not  concerned.  Indeed 
you  will  think,  perhaps,  the  General's  delicacy  on  this 
point  led  him  to  too  great  forbearance  when  you  learn 
that  Gen1  Conway  was  charged  with  cowardice  at  the 
battle  of  German  Town,  and  that  a  gentleman  of  rank 
and  reputation,  desir'd  to  be  called  upon  as  an  evi 
dence.  It  is  notorious  that  he  disobey'd  his  orders, 
and  that  he  was  fora  considerable  time  separated  from 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  103 

his  brigade.  The  Gen1,  however,  thinking  that  a  pub 
lic  investigation  of  this  matter  set  on  foot  by  him, 
might  be  attribut'd  to  motives  of  personal  resentment, 
suffer'd  it  to  pass  over.  When  Gen1  C.  left  camp,  pre 
tending  that  he  was  determined  to  return  to  France, 
his  countrymen  discerned  his  real  intentions,  and  gave 
him  credit  for  the  manoeuvre. 

He  has  weight  it  seems  with  a  certain  party,  formed 
against  the  present  Commander  in  chief,  at  the  head 
of  which  is  Gen1  Minim.  His  own  preposterous  pane- 
gyricks  of  himself,  and  the  influence  of  this  junto,  have 
probably  gained  him  the  extraordinary  promotion, 
which  has  convulsed  the  army.  His  reception  at  camp 
was  consonant  to  the  Gem"8  uniform  conduct  towards 
him,  since  the  epoch  above  alluded  to ;  the  complai 
sance  due  to  his  rank  was  exercised  towards  him. 

What  has  passed  since,  you  will  be  properly  informed 
of.  His  last  letter,  which  is  a  most  insolent  attempt 
at  what  the  French  call  persiflage,  or  humouring  a  man, 
affects  the  Gen1  very  sensibly. 

It  is  such  an  affront  as  Conway  would  never  have 
dared  to  offer,  if  the  General's  situation  had  not  assured 
him  of  the  impossibility  of  its  being  revenged  in  a 
private  way.  The  Gen1,  therefore,  has  determined  to 
return  him  no  answer  at  all,  but  to  lay  the  whole  mat 
ter  before  Congress ;  they  will  determine  whether  Gen1 
W.  is  to  be  sacrificed  to  Gen1  C.,  for  the  former  can 
never  consent  to  be  concerned  in  any  transaction  with 
the  latter,  from  whom  he  has  received  such  uupar- 


104  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

donable  insults.  My  private  opinion  is,  that  Conway 
never  meant  to  act  as  Inspector  Gen1,  or  to  carry  his 
new  grade  of  major  general  into  the  field ;  but  that  his 
vanity  being  amply  gratified  by  his  exaltation,  not  only 
above  the  brigadiers,  but  even  the  major  generals,  he 
was  desirous  of  retiring  to  a  more  lucrative  and  less 
dangerous  employment  in  the  service  of  the  states  at 
home.  I  hope  that  some  virtuous  and  patriotic  men, 
will  form  a  countermine  to  blow  up  the  pernicious 
junto  spoken  of  above. 

I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  writing  to  you  my  dear 
father  on  this  subject,  in  order  that  you  might  be  more 
minutely  acquainted  with  it. 

I  have  been  obliged  to  do  it  in  a  hurry,  and  in  a 
small,  noisy,  crowded  room.  I  have  succeeded  so  far 
with  secrecy,  and  dare  not  venture  upon  a  more  decent 
copy.  I  hope,  therefore,  that  you  will  excuse  my  let 
ter,  and  accept  it  in  its  present  dress. 

I  hope  it  will  find  you  perfectly  reliev'd  from  your 
old  enemy,  the  gout,  and  in  condition  to  save  America 
from  her  most  dangerous  enemies. 

Your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

I  hope  Congress  will  not  lose  sight  of  the  office  of 
inspector  gen1. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr, 
President  of  Congress. 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  105 

HEAD   QUARTERS,  5th  Jan.,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father: 

Some  commercial  technicalities  puzzled  me  in  the 
letters  which  you  sent  me  to  translate.  My  French 
acquaintance  here  are  almost  as  much  at  a  loss  how 
to  render  the  words  in  question,  as  much  as  I  was  my 
self;  however,  I  believe  the  following  explanations  are 
right:  fonsage,  one  of  the  articles  of  charge  in  the 
account  sales,  signifies,  filling  up,  or  packing  ;  it  stands 
thus  in  the  original,  an  tonnelier  ponr  fonsaye  $  foneage, 
i.  e.,  to  the  cooper  for  packing  gabarage ;  another  charge 
is  properly  cooperage,  or  repairs  to  the  cask. 

Livraison,  another  charge,  means  the  delivery  ;  but  I 
can't  explain  what  delivery  is  to  be  understood,  as  it 
is  unconnected  with  any  other  word. 

Babut  &  Labouchere  in  one  of  their  letters  say, 
"  We  are  sorry  the  goods  per  Cap'  Cochran  were  ovaries. 
The  blank  in  this  part  of  my  translation  is  to  be  sup 
plied  with  the  word  averaged;  the  cargo,  I  suppose, 
received  some  damage  at  sea. 

In  another  letter,  where  they  relate  the  prices  curr', 
goudron  means  tar,  and  bray,  I  can  only  guess,  means 
green  tar,  for  it  is  placed  among  the  productions  of  the 
pine  tree,  and  it  cannot  signify  pitch,  for  that  is 
express'd  by  poix.  I  am  exceedingly  sorry  that  my 
ignorance  in  these  matters  has  made  me  bungle  so,  but 
hope  there  will  be  no  ill  consequence  arise  from  it. 

The  continuance  of  your  pains  is  a  great  affliction 


106  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

to  me ;  and  if  sympathy  can  alleviate,  or  prayers  avail 
to  remove  the  evil,  the  tenderness  of  the  former  causes 
the  latter  incessantly  to  now  from 

Your  affectionate 

Jonx  LAURENS. 

Inclosed  is  a  newspaper,  which,  though  not  of  a  very 
recent  date,  may  afford  you  some  amusement.  The 
means  which  are  taken  in  Philadelphia  to  discredit  the 
report  of  a  French  war,  are  to  me,  better  proof  in  our 
favor,  than  many  testimonies  that  are  exhibited  011 
our  part. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 
President  of  Congress,  York. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  14th  Jan.,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

This  will  be  delivered  to  you  by  the  Chevalier  de 
Mauduit  de  Plessis,  whose  name  I  mentioned  to  you 
in  one  of  my  late  letters.  I  am  happy  in  having  an 
opportunity  of  recommending  so  worthy  a  man  to  your 
protection.  lie  was  employed  by  the  Commander  in 
chief,  to  act  at  Red  Bank  in  the  capacities  of  engineer 
and  commandant  of  artillery,  and  acquitted  himself 
so  well  as  to  obtain  panegyricks  approaching  to  rap 
ture  from  the  officers  who  were  witnesses  of  his  con 
duct.  The  alterations  which  he  made  in  the  works  of 
his  post  shew'd  that  he  had  not  contined  himself  to 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  107 

one  branch  of  military  knowledge,  but  had  extended 
his  studies  with  success  to  one  which  is  generally  held 
as  a  mystery  apart.  His  admirable  behaviour  during 
the  action  which  proved  fatal  to  so  many  daring  Hes 
sians  ;  his  saving  some  valuable  artillery  and  stores  by 
preferring  the  public  interest  to  his  own  safety;  his 
exposing  his  life  by  blowing  up  the  magazine  at  Fort 
Mercer  without  the  preparation  which  is  usually  made 
in  such  cases  for  the  security  of  the  operator,  and  his 
gallant  conduct  on  all  occasions,  entitle  him  to  the 
promotion  which  his  Excellency  solicits  for  him.  The 
letter  which  Mr.  Duplessis  now  carries  to  Congress 
would  have  gone  in  the  order  of  time,  if  his  modesty 
had  not  made  him  backward  in  speaking  of  himself. 
I  interest  myself  greatly  in  his  success  because  I  know 
his  merit.  As  this  is  the  only  reason  that  can  prevail 
with  you  to  befriend  any  man  who  is  soliciting  public 
reward,  I  recommend  this  gentleman  with  confidence  ; 
and  if  it  is  in  your  power  to  assist  him  in  procuring  a 
brevet  of  lieutenant  colonel,  expressing  the  reasons 
for  his  promotion,  and  bearing  date  the  26th  Novem 
ber,  in  order  that  those  who  are  not  his  seniors  in 
France  may  not  have  a  right  to  command  him  here, 
I  entreat  you  to  do  it,  as  you  will  essentially  serve  a 
young  man,  whose  military  ardour  and  talents  make 
him  valuable  to  the  United  States. 

I  am  with  every  sentiment  of  filial  affection  your 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

As  there  is  a  great  demand  for  commissions,  his 


108          CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

Excellency  desires  me  to  apply  for  a  large  number  of 
blanks  to  be  sent  by  the  next  courier. 
The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 
President  of  Congress. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  \kth  Jan.,  1778. 

I  barely  hinted  to  you,  my  dearest  father,  my  desire 
to  augment  the  Continental  forces  from  an  untried 
source.  I  wish  I  had  any  foundation  to  ask  for  an 
extraordinary  addition  to  those  favours  which  I  have 
already  received  from  you.  I  would  solicit  you  to 
cede  me  a  number  of  your  able  bodied  men  slaves, 
instead  of  leaving  me  a  fortune. 

I  would  bring  about  a  two-fold  good ;  first,  I  would 
advance  those  who  are  unjustly  deprived  of  the  rights 
of  mankind  to  a  state  which  would  be  a  proper  grada 
tion  between  abject  slavery  and  perfect  liberty,  and 
besides  I  would  reinforce  the  defenders  of  liberty 
with  a  number  of  gallant  soldiers.  Men,  who  have 
the  habit  of  subordination  almost  indelibly  impressed 
on  them,  would  have  one  very  essential  qualification 
of  soldiers.  I  am  persuaded  that  if  I  could  obtain 
authority  for  the  purpose,  I  would  have  a  corps  of  such 
men  trained,  uniformly  clad,  equip'd  and  ready  in 
every  respect  to  act  at  the  opening  of  the  next  cam 
paign.  The  ridicule  that  may  be  thrown  on  the 
color,  I  despise,  because  I  am  sure  of  rendering  essen 
tial  service  to  my  country.  I  am  tired  of  the  languor 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.          109 

with  which  so  sacred  a  war  as  this  is  carried  on.  My 
circumstances  prevent  me  from  writing  so  long  a 
letter  as  I  expected  and  wish'd  to  have  done  on  a 
subject  which  I  have  much  at  heart.  I  entreat  you 
to  give  a  favorable  answer  to 

Your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

The  Honhle  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 
President  of  Congress. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  23d  Jan.,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  enter  fully  into  every 
part  of  your  kind  letters  dated  the  8th  and  16th  inst, 
but  as  that  will  be  impossible  by  the  present  opportu 
nity  I  must  confine  myself  to  thanking  you  for  the 
information  which  you  have  given  me  in  some 
important  points,  and  replying  briefly  to  several  ques 
tions  which  you  ask  me  : 

First,  the  Barou  d'  Arendt  is  a  German,  who  served 
as  he  says  in  quality  of  aide  de  camp  to  the  K.  of 
Prussia ;  was  colonel  in  our  service  of  a  battalion  of 
Germans  and  their  descendants  raised  in  Maryland 
and  this  State,  was  sent  afterwards  to  take  the  com 
mand  at  Fort  Mifflin  where  his  ill  health  suffered  him 
to  stay  but  a  short  time.  He  has  undoubtedly  great 
military  talents ;  but  I  have  heard  that  Gen1  Muhlen- 
berg,  who  commanded  the  brigade  to  which  the  German 


110  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

regiment  is  attached,  and  the  officers  of  the  regiment, 
call  the  baron's  probity  into  question.  His  Excellency 
has  neither  seen  nor  heard  any  thing  of  this  gentleman 
that  could  give  him  an  unfavourable  opinion  of  him. 

We  have  never  had  any  particular  account  of  the 
prizes  in  the  Delaware.  One  or  two  of  those  taken 
on  the  Jersey  shore,  from  their  vicinity  to  Philadel 
phia  yielded  but  little  profit  to  the  captors,  as  they 
were  obliged  to  burn  them  before  they  could  unload 
them. 

The  Chevalier  de  Neuville  with  his  brother  and 
companions  sets  out  for  York  to-morrow.  I  take  the 
Chevalr  to  be  a  gentleman  whose  thirst  for  glory,  and 
whose  military  knowledge  would  make  him  an  acquisi 
tion  to  the  army  of  the  United  States.  The  younger 
brother  as  far  as  I  can  judge  from  his  appearance,  tho' 
inferior  in  knowledge,  is  animated  with  sentiments 
that  characterize  the  soldier. 

The  resolution  of  Congress  respecting  Gen1  13  ur- 
goyne  and  his  army,  I  think  both  founded  in  justice 
and  policy.  It  might  have  been  better  perhaps  if  a 
little  more  republican  laconism  had  been  used  in 
explaining  the  reasons  for  it. 

The  letter  said  to  be  the  general's  is  partly  genuine 
and  partly  spurious.  Those  who  metamorphosed  the 
intercepted  original  committed  an  error  in  point  of 
time,  for  Mrs.  Washington  was  with  the  general  in 
New  York  at  the  date  of  it. 

You  asked  me,  my  dear  father,  what  bounds  I  have 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  Ill 

set  to  my  desire  of  serving  my  country  in  the  military 
line  ?  I  answer  glorious  death,  or  the  triumph  of  the 
cause  in  which  we  are  engaged. 

I  must  not  conclude  without  giving  you  a  short 
account  of  a  brilliant  defence  lately  made  by  a  few  of 
Cap*  Lee's  troop.  Near  two  hundred  of  the  enemy's 
light  dragoons  made  an  attempt  to  surprise  the  captain 
in  his  quarters.  They  concealed  their  march  by  a 
circuitous  road,  and  arrived  at  the  house  a  little  after 
day-break  conducted  by  an  intelligent  guide.  Lee 
had  at  the  time  with  him  only  his  lieutenant,  Mr. 
Lindsay,  a  corporal  and  four  privates,  and  Major 
Jameson  of  the  same  regiment  who  happen'd  to  be 
there  on  a  visit.  They  posted  themselves  in  the 
house  and  made  the  necessary  preparations  for  defence. 
Cap*.  Dclancy,  wTho  commanded  the  enemy's  advanced 
guard,  led  it  on  bravely  'till  he  arrived  under  cover  of 
the  eves,  while  the  main  body  kept  up  a  constant  fire 
from  a  distance  on  the  windows.  After  repeated 
efforts  had  been  made  to  enter  the  house,  the  party 
repulsed  made  an  attempt  to  seize  the  horses  which 
were  in  the  stable,  but  such  a  well  directed  constant 
fire  was  kept  up  from  the  house  that  the  bravest  dra 
goon  did  not  venture  to  dismount.  The  loss  of  the 
enemy  was  one  commissioned  officer  and  three  or  four 
privates.  The  party  in  its  retreat  picked  up  a  quar 
ter-master's  serjeant  and  a  couple  of  videttes.  Lieu 
tenant  Lindsay  was  wounded  in  the  hand.  Too  much 
praise  cannot  be  bestowed  upon  the  officers  and  men 


112  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN   LAURENS. 

who  had  the  honor  of  forcing  such  an  incomparable 
superiority  of  numbers  to  a  shameful  retreat.  Cap* 
Nichols  was  at  Lee's  quarters  in  his  way  from  Phila 
delphia  during  the  action,  and  gives  our  little  party 
great  applause  as  I  have  been  told. 

We  have  some  as  brave  individuals  among  our 
officers  as  any  that  exist.  Our  men  are  the  best 
crude  materials  for  soldiers  I  believe  in  the  world,  for 
they  possess  a  docility  and  patience  which  astonish 
foreigners.  "With  a  little  more  discipline  we  should 
drive  the  haughty  Briton  to  his  ships. 

I  am  unhappy  in  hearing  that  your  leg  continues  so 
weak,  and  wish  that  I  could  offer  my  shoulder  as  a 
support;  but  at  this  distance,  I  can  only  help  you  by 
my  prayers,  and  comfort  by  assurances  of  sympathy. 

Your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 
President  of  Congress,  York. 

(Private). 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  28th  Jan.,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

The  Marquis  de  Lafayette  gives  me  an  opportunity 
of  thanking  you  for  your  kind  letter  of  the  25th.  The 
intended  expedition  to  Canada  that  gentleman  had 
communicated  to  me  the  day  before  in  confidence, 
and  by  giving  me  the  perusal  of  his  letter  to  you  on 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  113 

the  subject  had  discovered  his  aversion  to  a  certain 
general  as  second  in  command. 

The  policy  of  the  enterprise  does  not  appear  to  me 
good  in  our  present  circumstances,  for  altho'  numbers 
may  be  employed  in  this  that  could  not  be  engaged  in 
any  other,  counting  volunteers  from  the  Eastern  states 
and  the  well  affected  of  the  country  into  which  the  war 
is  carried,  yet  a  certain  quantity  of  strength  and  trea 
sure  will  be  employed,  which  might  be  better  applied 
elsewhere.  I  am  speaking  on  the  supposition  that  it 
is  impossible  for  us  to  hold  our  conquests  in  Canada, 
while  the  enemy  continues  superior  to  us  by  sea. 

Towns  and  fortifications  and  some  military  stores 
may  be  destroyed;  the  unhappy  Canadians  will  be 
forced  to  side  by  turns  with  the  party  in  possession, 
and  experience  the  redoubled  horrors  of  war. 

The  organization  of  the  force  which  we  are  to  use, 
as  far  as  we  are  acquainted  with  it  here,  does  not  give 
satisfaction.  It  is  feared  that  the  ambition  and 
intriguing  spirit  of  Con  way  will  be  subversive  of  the 
public  good,  while  he  will  proceed  securely  behind 
the  shield  of  his  commanding  officer,  taking  to 
himself  the  merit  of  every  thing  praiseworthy  and 
attributing  every  misfortune  to  the  ostensible  head. 
The  person  who  is  appointed  Q.  master  for  this 
expedition,  is  said  to  be  a  man  skilfull  in  enriching 
himself  at  the  public  expense. 

Our  friend  the  Ms.  knowing  the  existence  of  a 
certain  faction,  and  penetrating  the  character  of  his 
15 


114  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

second,  has  prudently  resolved  to  wait  upon  Congress, 
and  to  find  out  the  extent  of  their  views  in  sending 
forces  into  Canada,  that  he  may  act  correspoiidently 
and  not  have  the  secret  of  their  intentions  deposited 
in  another  man  while  he  has  the  command. 

I  cannot  altogether  clear  up  the  matter  which  you 
allude  to.  I  think  I  told  you  in  my  first  letters  on  the 
subject  whence  the  general  derived  his  knowledge  of 
the  existence  of  the  insolent  paragraph,  and  it  does 
not  appear  extraordinary  to  me  that  a  certain  gentle 
man  who  was  capable  of  writing  it,  should  afterwards 
deny  it. 

I  am  called  upon  to  attend  the  general  to  his  first 
official  interview  with  the  congressional  committee, 
and  have  time  only  to  repeat  that  I  am  ever, 

Your 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 
President  of  Congress,  York. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  2d  Feb.,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father  : 

The  more  I  reflect  upon  the  difficulties  and  delays 
which  are  likely  to  attend  the  completing  our  Conti 
nental  regiments,  the  more  anxiously  is  my  mind  bent 
upon  the  scheme,  which  I  lately  communicated  to  you. 
The  obstacles  to  the  execution  of  it  had  presented 
themselves  to  me,  but  by  no  means  appeared  insur- 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  115 

mountable.  I  was  aware  of  having  that  monstrous 
popular  prejudice,  open-mouthed  against  me,  of  under 
taking  to  transform  beings  almost  irrational,  into  well 
disciplined  soldiers,  of  being  obliged  to  combat  the 
arguments,  and  perhaps  the  intrigues,  of  interested 
persons.  But  zeal  for  the  public  service,  and  an  ardent 
desire  to  assert  the  rights  of  humanity,  determined  me 
to  engage  in  this  arduous  business,  with  the  sanction 
of  your  consent.  My  own  perseverance,  aided  by  the 
countenance  of  a  few  virtuous  men,  will,  I  hope, 
enable  me  to  accomplish  it. 

You  seem  to  think,  my  dear  father,  that  men  recon 
ciled  by  long  habit  to  the  miseries  of  their  condition, 
would  prefer  their  ignominious  bonds  to  the  untasted 
sweets  of  liberty,  especially  when  offer'd  upon  the 
terms  which  I  propose. 

I  confess,  indeed,  that  the  minds  of  this  unhappy 
species  must  be  debased  by  a  servitude,  from  which 
they  can  hope  for  no  relief  but  death,  and  that  every 
motive  to  action  but  fear,  must  be  nearly  extinguished 
in  them.  But  do  you  think  they  are  so  perfectly 
moulded  to  their  state  as  to  be  insensible  that  a  better 
exists  ?  Will  the  galling  comparison  between  them 
selves  and  their  masters  leave  them  unenlightened  in 
this  respect  ?  Can  their  self  love  be  so  totally  annihi 
lated  as  not  frequently  to  induce  ardent  wishes  for  a 
change  ? 

You  will  accuse  me,  perhaps,  my  dearest  friend,  of 
consulting  my  own  feelings  too  much;  but  I  am 


116  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

tempted  to  believe  that  this  trampled  people  have  so 
much  human  left  in  them,  as  to  be  capable  of  aspiring 
to  the  rights  of  men  by  noble  exertions,  if  some  friend 
to  mankind  would  point  the  road,  and  give  them  a 
prospect  of  success.  If  I  am  mistaken  in  this,  I  would 
avail  myself,  even  of  their  weakness,  and,  conquering 
one  fear  by  another,  produce  equal  good  to  the  public. 
You  will  ask  in  this  view,  how  do  you  consult  the 
benefit  of  the  slaves  ?  I  answer,  that  like  other  men, 
they  are  the  creatures  of  habit.  Their  cowardly  ideas 
will  be  gradually  effaced,  and  they  will  be  modified 
anew.  Their  being  rescued  from  a  state  of  perpetual 
humiliation,  and  being  advanced,  as  it  were,  in  the 
scale  of  being,  will  compensate  the  dangers  incident 
to  their  new  state. 

The  hope  that  will  spring  in  each  man's  mind, 
respecting  his  own  escape,  will  prevent  his  being 
miserable.  Those  who  fall  in  battle  will  not  lose 
much ;  those  who  survive  will  obtain  their  reward. 
Habits  of  subordination,  patience  under  fatigues,  suf 
ferings  and  privations  of  every  kind,  are  soldierly 
qualifications,  which  these  men  possess  in  an  eminent 
degree. 

Upon  the  whole,  my  dearest  friend  and  father,  I 
hope  that  my  plan  for  serving  my  country  and  the 
oppressed  negro  race  will  not  appear  to  you  the  chi 
mera  of  a  young  mind,  deceived  by  a  false  appearance 
of  moral  beauty,  but  a  laudable  sacrifice  of  private 
interest,  to  justice  and  the  public  good. 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  117 

You  say,  that  my  resources  would  be  small,  on 
account  of  the  proportion  of  women  and  children. 
I  do  not  know  whether  I  am  right,  for  I  speak  from 
impulse,  and  have  not  reasoned  upon  the  matter.  I 
say,  altho'  my  plan  is  at  once  to  give  freedom  to  the 
negroes,  and  gain  soldiers  to  the  states ;  in  case  of 
concurrence,  I  shd  sacrifice  the  former  interest,  and 
therefore  wd  change  the  women  and  children  for  able- 
bodied  men.  The  more  of  these  I  could  obtain,  the 
better ;  but  forty  might  be  a  good  foundation  to  begin 
upon. 

It  is  a  pity  that  some  such  plan  as  I  propose  could 
not  be  more  extensively  executed  by  public  authority. 
A  well  chosen  body  of  5,000  black  men,  properly  offi- 
cer'd,  to  act  as  light  troops,  in  addition  to  our  present 
establishment,  might  give  us  decisive  success  in  the 
next  campaign. 

1  have  long  deplored  the  wretched  state  of  these 
men,  and  considered  in  their  history,  the  bloody  wars 
excited  in  Africa,  to  furnish  America  with  slaves  — 
the  groans  of  despairing  multitudes,  toiling  for  the 
luxuries  of  merciless  tyrants. 

I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  conversing  with  you, 
sometimes,  upon  the  means  of  restoring  them  to  their 
rights.  When  can  it  be  better  done,  than  when  their 
enfranchisement  may  be  made  conducive  to  the  pub 
lic  good,  and  be  modified,  as  not  to  overpower  their 
weak  minds? 

You  ask,  what  is  the  general's  opinion,  upon  this 


118  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

subject  ?  He  is  convinced,  that  the  numerous  tribes 
of  blacks  in  the  southern  parts  of  the  continent.,  offer 
a  resource  to  us  that  should  not  be  neglected.  With 
respect  to  my  particular  plan,  he  only  objects  to  it, 
with  the  arguments  of  pity  for  a  man  who  would  be 
less  rich  than  he  might  be. 

I  am  obliged,  my  dearest  friend  and  father,  to  take 
my  leave  for  the  present ;  you  will  excuse  whatever 
exceptionable  may  have  escaped  in  the  course  of  my 
letter,  and  accept  the  assurance  of  filial  love,  and 

respect  of 

Your 

JOHN  LAURENS. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  3d  Feb. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  am  happy  in  having  an  opportunity  of  introducing 
to  your  acquaintance  the  brave  Col°  Fleury,  whose 
reputation  is  not  unknown  to  you.  At  the  same  time, 
I  cannot  but  regret  that  he  is  called  to  another 
employment  when  I  was  in  hopes  of  having  engaged 
him  as  a  colleague  and  coadjutor  in  raising  the  famous 
black  battalion,  with  which  I  have  troubled  you  so 
much  lately. 

The  resolutions  of  Congress  is  a  sufficient  recom 
mendation  of  this  young  gentleman  to  your  notice.  I 
will  only  add,  that  I  am  happy  in  having  laid  the 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  119 

foundation   of    what   I   hope   will   be    an   inviolable 
friendship  with  him. 

Your  most  dutiful  and  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 
President  of  Congress. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  3d  Feb.,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father  : 

I  am  happy  in  having  the  pleasure  of  introducing  to 
your  acquaintance,  Colonel  Fitzgerald,  the  senior  aid 
in  our  family. 

His  affairs  call  him  to  Virginia,  and  as  he  means  to 
pass  through  York  Town,  you  will  have  an  opportu 
nity  of  learning  many  things,  viva  voce,  from  him, 
which  are  not  so  well  committed  to  writing. 

Your  most  dutiful  and  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  9th  Feb.,  1778. 
I  have  to  thank  you,  my  dear  father,  for  two  shirts, 
and  a  piece  of  scarlet  cloth.  I  wrote  to  James  for  some 
hair  powder  and  pomatum,  but  received  only  the 
latter  with  a  comb.  As  I  am  upon  the  subject  of 
dress,  it  will  not  be  premature  to  inform  you,  that  if 
you  should  command  me  to  remain  in  my  present 
station,  blue  and  buff  cloth,  lining,  twist,  yellow  flat 


120  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN   LAURENS. 

double  gilt  buttons  sufficient  to  make  me  a  uniform 
suit,  will  be  wanted ;  besides,  corded  dimity  for  waist 
coats  and  breeches  against  the  opening  of  the  cam 
paign  ;  and  I  must  beg  the  favour  of  you  to  write  to 
some  friend  in  South  Carolina,  to  procure  me  these 
articles.  A  pair  of  gold  epaulettes  and  a  saddle  cloth 
may  be  added,  if  not  too  expensive.  If  you  should 
give  me  leave  to  execute  my  black  project,  my  uni 
form  will  be  a  white  field  (faced  with  red),  a  color 
which  is  easiest  kept  clean,  and  will  form  a  good  con 
trast  with  the  complexion  of  the  soldier. 

Inclosed  are  two  letters  from  Duplessis,  which  relate 
to  his  commission.  Upon  his  arrival  here,  he  asked 
for  a  regimental  commission,  in  addition  to  that  which 
had  been  given  him  by  Congress. 

The  general  refused  it,  as  he  looked  upon  the 
resolve  to  have  intended  only  a  brevet,  and  that  a  regi 
mental  commission  might  produce  a  concurrence 
between  him  and  senior  artillery  officers,  which  would 
be  the  occasion  of  discontent,  and  perhaps  the  resign 
ation  of  some  valuable  men. 

Duplessis  understands  it  differently,  and,  hoping 
that  he  is  in  the  right,  applies  to  you. 

You  know  my  opinion  of  this  gentleman's  merit, 
but  I  must  confess  at  the  same  time,  that  I  think  the 
brevet  is  a  very  honourable  and  handsome  reward  of 
his  services. 

It  is  said  here,  that  Mr.  Fleury  is  soliciting  at  York  a 
farther  promotion ;  I  am  exceedingly  sorry  to  hear  it. 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  121 

All  his  countrymen  agree  that  he  is  amply  rewarded, 
and  that  as  there  was  great  analogy  between  the  ser 
vices  render'd  by  him  and  Duplessis,  no  greater  recom 
pense  should  be  accorded  to  one  than  to  the  other.  If 
Fleury  is  made  a  colonel,  Duplessis  will  have  the  right 
to  ask  the  same  rank,  and  so  they  may  go  on  'till  they 
have  exhausted  all  the  rank  that  exists  amono;  us. 

O 

It  is  a  pity  that  Congress  should  grant  any  promotions 
but  upon  the  recommendation  of  those  superior  offi 
cers,  who  have  known  or  seen  the  feats  upon  which 
the  pretensions  are  founded.  The  present  way  of  pro 
ceeding  is  productive  of  great  confusion  and  much 
uneasiness.  It  is  complained,  that  whoever  will  go  to 
York  and  speak  loudly  to  members  of  Congress,  of  his 
own  abilities  and  eminent  services,  will  obtain  what 
he  intrigues  for.  One  improper  promotion  induces 
another,  and  perhaps  several  others  to  silence  the 
murmurers,  and  rank  and  Congress,  I  am  sorry  to 
say  it,  but  I  speak  with  the  bleeding  heart  of  a  republi 
can,  they  are  both  brought  into  contempt  by  it.  The 
august  representative  body  of  thirteen  free  states  is 
said  to  be  bullied  by  every  man  who  is  impudent 
enough  to  make  his  own  panegyrick,  and  represent 
his  own  importance. 

I  could  not  forbear  communicating  a  part  of  your 
favour  of  3d  hist.,  to  our  friend;  he  seems  sensible  that 
the  gentleman,  who  you  mention  to  have  conversed 
with  you  upon  certain  matters,  is  only  the  instrument 
of  more  dangerous  and  inveterate  personages. 
16 


122  CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

Mr.  Payne  has  obligingly  otfcr'd  to  take  charge  of 
my  letter.  I  have  just  discovered  that  he  is  waiting 
for  it,  and  as  it  grows  dark  and  he  has  a  had  road  to 
travel,  I  must  not  farther  trespass  upon  his  good 

nature. 

Your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 
The  Honhle  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 

President  of  Congress,  York. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  Sth  Feb.,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  have  just  finished  a  few  hasty  lines  and  dispatched 
Mr.  Payne,  hut  in  my  hurry  I  forgot  to  inform  you  of 
an  interesting  letter  which  the  general  received  this 
morning  from  Sir  "Win.  Howe,  in  which  he  declares 
that  he  is  ready  to  give  his  consent  to  a  general 
exchange  of  prisoners  upon  the  terms  formerly  offered 
by  Gen1.  Washington,  alledging  his  desire  to  relieve 
the  men  and  officers  from  the  misery  which  unavoid 
ably  accompanies  captivity,  as  his  only  motive.  He 
disavows  the  cruel  treatment  of  our  prisoners  with 
which  he  has  been  so  often  charged;  and  quotes  the 
license  which  he  has  lately  given  to  our  commissaries 
to  purchase  blanketing  for  the  unhappy  American 
captives,  to  establish  his  reputation  in  point  of  human 
ity.  He  farther  says  he  is  informed  that  the  claims 
upon  Lieut.  Gen1  Burgoync's  army  for  provisions 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.          123 

have  been  made  a  pretext  for  infringing  if  not  totally 
breaking  the  convention  of  Saratoga,  and  says  he  will 
give  orders  for  liquidating  accounts  of  this  nature  and 
paying  the  balances,  when  he  hopes  the  proper  orders 
will  be  given  by  Gen.  "Washington  for  the  embarca- 
tion  of  the  convention  troops.  But  as  this  letter  is 
not  announced  to  you  officially,  I  must  entreat  you  to 
let  the  existence  of  it  remain  a  secret  with  yourself. 

The  Marquis  de  Lafayette  left  camp  on  Friday. 
Duplessis  set  out  this  morning.  They  both  have  told 
me  things  which  humble  me  as  a  republican.  Our 
freedom  depends  upon  the  patriotic  exertions  of  a  few 
individuals.  It  is  with  grief  I  learn  that  Congress  is 
composed  of  so  small  a  number  as  fifteen.  The  state 
of  Virginia  you  see  has  assented  to  the  articles  of 

O  *J 

confederation.  Is  there  not  some  latent  eastern  policy 
in  the  article  which  requires  a  majority  of  nine  voices 
to  four  to  decide  every  important  general  question  ? 
Adieu,  my  dear  friend  and  father.  I  can  not  form  a 
better  wish  for  my  country,  than  that  it  had  more  men 
like  you.  The  paucity  of  such  citizens  is  an  unanswer 
able  argument  for  your  remaining  in  public  office. 
I  am  with  the  greatest  respect  and  tenderest 

affection, 

Your 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

A  day  or  two  ago,  a  handsome  young  lad,  who 
call'd  himself  Cope,  and  said  he  was  an  ensign  in  the 
;35th  British.  He  said  that  in  an  affair  of  honor,  he 


124  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN   LAURENS. 

had  killed  his  man,  and  fearing  the  consequences, 
threw  himself  into  our  protection.  He  was  treated 
with  that  generosity  which  I  hope  will  ever  character 
ize  Americans.  A  collection  of  clothes  and  money 
was  made  for  him ;  the  Marquis  took  him  with  him, 
and  is  to  furnish  him  with  letters  for  his  friends  in 
France.  We  have  since  discovered  that  he  is  an 
impostor.  A  duel  has  lately  been  fought  in  which  an 
officer  was  killed,  but  Cope  was  not  concerned  in  it, 
It  is  probable  that  he  is  some  young  officer  who  has 
been  obliged  to  fly  in  consequence  of  some  disgrace 
ful  action,  or  perhaps  a  series  of  follies.  I  just  had 
time  to  send  the  Marquis  a  message  by  Duplessis  to 
put  him  on  his  guard. 


HEAD  QUAIITEKS,  15th  Feb.,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  am  to  thank  you  for  your  kind  letter  of  the  6th 
inst.,  and  the  two  camp  shirts  which  accompanied  it. 
The  presumption  which  would  lead  me  to  pursue  my 
project  after  what  you  have  said  upon  it,  would  be 
unpardonable ;  praying  your  forgiveness  therefor,  my 
dear  friend,  for  the  trouble  which  I  have  given  you  on 
this  eccentric  scheme,  I  renounce  it  as  a  thing  which 
cannot  be  sanctified  by  your  approbation.  At  the 
same  time,  I  must  confess  to  you  that  I  am  very 
sensibly  affected  by  your  imputing  my  plan  in  so  large 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN   LAURENS.          125 

a  degree  to  ambition.  I  declare  upon  my  honor  that 
I  would  not  have  desired  any  other  than  my  present 
rank,  and  that  I  would  even  have  taken  the  title  of 
captain  of  an  independent  corps,  for  the  pleasure  of 
serving  my  country  so  usefully,  as  I  fondly  hoped  I 
should  have  been  able  to  do,  had  my  scheme  been 
carried  into  execution. 

The  scarlet  cloth,  four  camp  shirts  (in  all),  a  roll  of 
pomatum,  a  hair  comb,  two  shirts  for  Berry,  and  a 
hunting  shirt,  have  been  received  at  different  times, 
and  I  am  exceedingly  obliged  to  you  for  them.  In 
future  I  will  be  more  careful  to  thank  you  for  such 
articles  immediately  after  the  receipt  of  them. 

The  express  is  waiting  only  for  my  letter,  which 
circumstance  has  obliged  me  to  write  in  haste,  and 
force  me  to  take  leave.  I  am 

Your  most  affectionate  and  dutiful 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 
President  of  Congress,  York. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  Wh  Feb.,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  have  to  ask  pardon  for  omitting  to  inform  you 
what  was  done  with  the  letter  for  Mr.  Bringhurst.  The 
day  after  its  arrival  here,  Mr.  Chaloncr,  one  of  our 


126          CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

commissaries,  set  out  for  German  Town,  on  some 
business,  and  took  charge  of  it.  As  lie  has  not  since 
returned  to  camp,  I  am  not  yet  acquainted  of  the 
fate  of  it. 

We  have  lately  been  in  a  most  alarming  situation 
for  want  of  provisions.  The  soldiers  were  scarcely 
restrained  from  mutiny  by  the  eloquence  and  manage 
ment  of  our  officers.  Those  who  are  employed  to 
feed  us,  either  for  want  of  knowledge  or  for  want  of 
activity  or  both,  never  furnish  supplies  adequate  to  our 
wants. 

I  have  more  than  once  mentioned  to  you  that  we 
have  been  obliged  to  renounce  the  most  important 
enterprises,  delay  the  most  critical  marches,  by  the 
delinquency  of  commissaries.  Here  of  late  it  has 
reduced  us  almost  to  the  point  of  disbanding.  The 
head  of  the  department  is  a  stationary  attendant  on 
Congress;  what  he  might  do  if  he  had  views  suffi 
ciently  extensive,  by  a  proper  employment  of  agents, 
I  know  not;  but  as  the  case  is  at  present,  he  seems 
to  be  almost  useless.  I  have  heard  it  asserted  by  more 
than  one  sensible,  disinterested  man,  that  the  removal 
of  Mr.  Trumbull  from  that  office  has  been  the  source 
of  all  our  misfortunes.  lie  had  .considerable  connec 
tions  and  influence  in  a  great  meat  country,  and  had 
laid  such  a  train  for  supplying  the  army,  as  in  all 
probability  would  have  put  us  out  of  the  reach  of  bad 
weather,  difficult  roads  and  other  common  accidents. 
Certain  it  is  that  the  want  of  providence',  or  want  of 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  127 

ability  in  the  present  managers,  has  brought  us  to  the 
brink  of  ruin.  By  extraordinary  exertions,  by  scrap 
ing  from  distant  scanty  magazines  and  collecting  with 
parties,  we  have  obtained  a  temporary  relief;  and 
have  hopes  that  the  representation  of  our  late  distress 
to  several  persons  of  influence  and  authority  in  differ 
ent  states,  will  procure  us  such  farther  supplies  as  will 
save  us  from  the  disagreeable  necessity  of  dividing  the 
army  into  cantonments. 

To  the  ill  offices  of  TrumbulPs  friends  we  may 
attribute  perhaps  a  part  of  our  distress.  The  increas 
ing  number  of  privateers  in  the  Xew  England  states, 
the  subsistence  of  the  convention  troops,  and  an  expe 
dition  now  on  foot,  will  greatly  diminish  the  meat 
resources  of  the  country  on  which  we  principally 
depend.  The  carcasses  of  horses  about  the  camp,  and 
the  deplorable  leanness  of  those  which  still  crawl  in 
existence,  speak  the  want  of  forage  equal  to  that  of 
human  food.  General  Greene  with  a  party  of  two 
thousand,  is  now  foraging,  but  will  be  able  to  collect 
only  the  gleanings  of  a  country  over  which  an  unspar 
ing  enemy  has  passed. 

A  small  detachment  from  his  party  under  the  com 
mand  of  Major  Billiard,  made  an  attempt  to  surprise 
the  enemy's  picket  near  their  bridge.  The  design  was 
discovered  and  the  picket  had  time  to  post  itself  in  a 
stone  house,  at  the  distance  of  500  yards.  Our  men 
were  saluted  with  a  general  discharge ;  they  marched 
forward  and  returned  the  lire,  and  would  have  pro- 


128  CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

ceeded  to  storming  the  house,  but  it  was  thought  more 
advisable  to  retire.  Our  party  had  five  men  slightly 
wounded;  the  enemy's  loss  was  one  Hessian  killed, 
and  another  mortally  wounded. 

Gen1.  Wayne  is  detached  by  Gen1  Greene  to  cross 
the  Delaware  at  Wilmington,  for  the  purpose  of  de 
stroying  all  the  hay  on  the  Jersey  shore  which  we 
cannot  secure  for  our  own  use,  and  which  may  fall 
into  the  enemy's  hands,  and  with  a  view  of  driving  all 
the  cattle  from  the  neighborhood  of  the  river,  by  a 
circuitous  road  to  camp.  If  he  finds  it  practicable  to 
cross  the  river  and  carry  that  plan  into  execution,  he 
is  to  make  a  large  sweep  and  return  here  with  what 
ever  he  can  collect  by  the  way  of  Gorshen. 

The  disaffected  inhabitants  find  means  to  conceal 
their  teams  and  cattle,  so  that  the  country  appears 
more  naked  than  it  really  is. 

Deserters  from  the  enemy  inform  us  that  they  are 
preparing  for  a  grand  forage,  and  that  they  will  pro 
bably  make  it  in  Bucks  county.  We  have  the  same 
business  in  contemplation  in  the  same  place. 

I  must  not  omit  informing  you  of  a  gallant  defence 
made  by  a  justice  of  the  peace  in  Philadelphia  county 
(011  the  other  side  of  the  Schuylkil),  known  by  the 
appellation  of  Squire  Knox.  This  gentleman's  house 
was  surrounded  early  in  the  morning  some  days  ago 
by  a  party  of  traitors,  lately  distinguished  by  the  title 
of  royal  refugees;  he  was  in  bed  in  a  lower  room,  and 
upon  their  demanding  admittance,  was  going  to  open 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  129 

to  them,  when  his  son  who  was  above,  and  perceiving 
from  the  window  fixed  bayonets,  call'd  to  him  to  keep 
his  door  shut  and  warned  him  of  danger.  The  vil 
lains  in  the  mean  time  pressed  against  the  door ; 
the  old  man  armed  himself  with  his  cutlass,  and  his 
son  descended  with  a  gun.  The  door  was  at  length 
forced  half  open  by  one  of  the  most  enterprising; 
the  father  kept  it  in  that  position  with  his  left  hand, 
and  employed  his  right  in  defending  the  passage. 
After  some  vigorous  strokes,  his  cutlass  broke ;  the 
bad  condition  of  the  son's  fusil  had  prevented  his 
tiring  till  this  moment.  He  was  now  prepared  to  salute 
the  assailants,  but  the  old  man  thinking  all  was  lost  by 
the  failure  of  his  weapon,  called  to  him  not  to  fire ; 
upon  farther  examination,  however,  he  says  he  found 
that  by  being  shortened,  it  was  only  better  adapted 
to  close  quarters,  and  renewed  the  fight. 

The  villains  fired  seven  shots  through  the  door,  one 
of  which  grazed  the  squire's  knee,  which  was  all  the 
damage  done.  They  then  threw  down  their  arms  and 
took  to  their  heels ;  they  were  pursued  by  the  Knoxes 
and  a  family  of  militia,  and  one  of  them  who  was 
concealed  in  a  cellar  was  taken. 

The  besetting  Mr.  Knox's  house  is  a  matter  of  civil 
cognizance,  but  it  appears  that  the  prisoner  has  held 
correspondence  with  the  enemy,  and  supplied  them 
with  provisions,  and  he  will  probably  suiter  death  for 
those  offences  by  sentence  of  court-martial. 

It  is  said  that  a  number  of  deserters  from  the 
17 


130  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

convention   troops   have    found   means   to   introduce 
themselves  as  substitutes  among  the  militia. 

Don't  you  think  my  dear  father  that  this  matter 
should  he  provided  against?  I  have  insensibly  written 
a  letter,  which  perhaps  you  will  not  have  time  to  read. 
It  is  not  uncommon,  however,  to  look  at  the  exordium 
and  peroration  ;  you  may  think  it  policy  therefore  in  me 
to  repeat  my  request  for  cloths  in  this  place,  but  I 
assure  you  it  was  accidental.  You  will  by  complying 
with  it  contribute  to  the  propriety  of  the  Commander 
in  chief's  family,  and  infinitely  oblige, 

Your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAUREXS. 

The  Ilonble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 
Favd  by  Colonel  Harvey. 


My  Dear  Father: 

I  have  barely  time  to  thank  you  for  your  kind 
favour  of  the  eighteenth,  and  the  pleasure  of  Baron 
Steuben's  acquaintance.  ^Nothing  that  depends  on  me 
shall  be  wanting  to  make  his  stay  in  camp  agreeable, 
and  if  he  enters  into  service,  to  make  myself  useful  to 
him.  I  deplore  the  misfortune  of  Charlestown  if  it 
has  fallen  upon  individuals  of  moderate  fortune ;  if 
it  affects  only  a  number  of  rich  men,  it  will  contribute 
to  equalizing  estates,  I  shall  not  regret  it. 

Gargon  being  masculine,  requires  the  article  to  be 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  131 

of  the  same  gender;  therefore,  une,  which  is  feminine, 
makes  a  false  concord ;  take  away  the  e  final  and 
make  it  un,  all  will  be  right. 

I  am,   my  dear  father,  ever  your  affectionate  and 

dutiful 

JOHN  LAURENS. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  24th  Feb.,  1778. 

I  have  but  one  pair  of  breeches  that  are  wearable. 
If  James  can  possibly  procure  me  some  white  cloth 
to  reinforce  me  in  this  article,  it  will  be  of  great  ser 
vice  to  me. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 

President  of  Congress,  York. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  28th  Feb.,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  was  obliged  to  write  briefly  and  in  haste,  by  the 
last  courier.  I  have  since  had  several  long  conversa 
tions  with  the  Baron  Steuben,  who  appears  to  me  a 
man  profound  in  the  science  of  war,  and  well  disposed 
to  render  his  best  services  to  the  United  States.  In 
an  interview  between  him  and  the  general,  at  which  I 
assisted  in  quality  of  interpreter,  he  declared  that  he 


132  CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

had  purposely  waved  making  any  contract  with  Con 
gress,  previous  to  his  having  made  some  acquaintance 
with  the  Commander  in  chief,  in  order  that  he  might 
avoid  giving  offence  to  the  officers  of  the  army,  and 
that  the  general  might  decide,  in  what  post  he  could 
he  the  most  useful.  If  I  have  conceived  rightly  of  his 
character  and  abilities,  he  would  make  us  an  excellent 
quarter  master  general,  in  the  military  part  of  the 
department;  his  office  being  confined  to  the  choice 
of  positions,  regulation  of  marches,  etc.  But  as  the 
civil  and  military  duties  with  us  are  blended,  he  can't 
be  disposed  of  in  this  way;  his  being  a  foreigner, 
unfitting  him  totally  for  the  latter.  I  think  he  would 
be  the  properest  man  we  could  choose  for  the  office 
of  inspector  general,  and  there  are  several  good  assist 
ants  that  might  be  given  him.  I  have  the  highest 
opinion  of  the  service  he  would  render  in  this  line,  as 
he  seems  to  be  perfectly  aware  of  the  disadvantages 
under  which  our  army  has  labored  from  short  enlist 
ments  and  frequent  changes;  seems  to  understand 
what  our  soldiers  are  capable  of,  and  is  not  so  staunch 
a  systematist  as  to  be  averse  from  adapting  established 
forms  to  stubborn  circumstances.  He  will  not  give  us 
the  perfect  instructions,  absolutely  speaking,  but  the 
best  which  we  are  in  a  condition  to  receive.  We  want 
some  kind  of  general  tutoring  in  this  way  so  much, 
that  as  obnoxious  as  Conway  is  to  most  of  the  army, 
rather  than  take  the  field  without  the  advantages  that 
might  be  derived  from  a  judicious  exercise  of  his 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  133 

office,  I  would  wish   every  motive  of  dissatisfaction 
respecting  him  for  the  present  to  be  suppressed. 

The  baron  proposes  to  take  the  rank  of  major 
general,  with  the  pay,  rations,  etc.  He  does  not  wish 
for  any  actual  command,  as  he  is  not  acquainted  with 
our  language  and  the  genius  of  our  people. 

It  gives  great  uneasiness  to  hear  it  whispered  that 
Congress  will  not  probably  ratify  the  arrangements 
proposed  for  the  benefit  of  the  army.  If  we  had  as 
much  virtue  as  we  ought  to  have,  this  would  produce 
no  dangerous  change ;  but  according  to  the  present 
interested  ideas  of  men,  many  of  our  best  officers  will 
very  likely  retire  from  the  service. 

The  whole  corps  of  officers  look  up  to  the  commit 
tee  of  Congress,  and  anxiously  wait  the  result  of  their 
recommendations.  The  most  disinterested  lament  the 
delay,  and  tremble  for  the  cause  of  their  country. 
My  dearest  friend  and  father,  adieu. 

I  am  your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 
The  Ilonble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 

President  of  Congress,  York. 

(Private). 


134  CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

HEAD  QUARTERS,  9th  March,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  have  received  your  three  letters,  one  of  the  1st 
inst.,  and  two  of  the  3d,  with  the  very  seasonable  sup 
ply  of  buff  cloth,  which,  that  I  may  not  disgrace  the 
relation  in  which  I  stand  to  the  president  of  Congress, 
and  the  Commander  in  chief  of  the  armies  of  the 
United  States,  by  an  unworthy  appearance,  shall  be 
immediately  converted  to  proper  use.  My  obligation 
is  the  greater,  as  my  want  was  more  pressing,  and  I 
entreat  your  acceptance  of  due  thanks.  The  necessity 
of  the  case  can  only  plead  my  excuse  for  intruding 
such  minutious  objects  on  a  mind  filled  with  the  inte 
rests  of  a  great  empire. 

The  method  which  you  allude  to,  of  procuring  the 
necessary  article  in  question,  has  been  clandestinely 
practiced  by  many.  The  policy  of  continuing  the  law 
which  prohibits  this  commerce,  is  disputed.  It  does 
not  appear  to  me,  that  a  connivance  at  it  on  the  part 
of  the  states  would  importantly  injure  our  own  manu 
factories,  or  encourage  those  of  Great  Britain.  How 
far  it  might  be  pernicious  in  draining  us  of  specie,  and 
in  reducing  the  present  slender  resources  which  we 
have  for  supporting  our  prisoners  among  the  enemy, 
I  cannot  pronounce.  The  greatest  objection  I  think 
is,  that  our  country  people  and  soldiers  would  be 
debauched  by  this  interest,  It  is  probable  that  one  of 
the  principal  marts  of  the  continent  has  capitally  suf- 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  135 

fered  by  tiro,  and  that  we  shall  more  than  ever  find  it 
expedient  to  relax  the  vigor  of  our  first  resolutions 
against  all  kind  of  commerce  with  the  enemy. 

The  naval  expedition  in  which  some  of  our  brave 
landsmen,  you  say,  have  embarked,  will,  I  hope,  be 
crowned  with  deserved  success. 

The  accounts  which  you  have  heard  of  repeated 
successes  of  the  enemy's  parties  have  probably  been 
exaggerated.  The  major  superintending  the  Taylors, 
from  the  best  accounts  I  have  been  able  to  gather 
from  two  of  our  soldiers,  who  made  their  escape,  and 
concurrent  circumstances,  appears  to  me  inexcusable. 
lie  had  sufficient  warning  to  have  admitted  of  his 
posting  his  guard  advantageously,  and  repelling  the 
enemy  with  loss,  in  case  they  should  have  hazarded 
an  assault. 

The  number  of  men  unfit  for  duty  by  reason  of  their 
nakedness,  the  number  sick  in  hospitals,  and  present 
under  innoculation,  certainly  emaciate  the  effective 
column  in  our  returns. 

Similar  causes,  added  to  the  severity  of  the  season, 
have  prevented  our  completing  the  works  of  the  camp, 
in  such  a  manner  as  would  have  been  indispensably 
necessary  if  we  had  been  engaged  with  a  more  alert 
and  enterprising  antagonist. 

The  repeated  cavils  of  some  general  officers  have 
driven  the  engineer  in  his  own  defence  to  substitute 
lines  to  redoubts  in  fortifying  the  camp,  whereby 
the  labor  of  the  soldier  was  greatly  augmented,  and 


136  CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

the  extent  to  be  mann'd  is  considerably  increased. 
The  position  which  we  at  present  occupy,  is  not  that 
which  was  at  first  judiciously  chosen.  The  bridge 
over  Schuylkil  which  was  intended  to  be  one  of  the 
avenues  of  retreat  is  so  placed,  that  it  is  impossible  to 
cover  it  by  any  work.  Perhaps  in  case  of  attack,  we 
shall  be  obliged  to  abandon  both  that  and  our  huts, 
to  the  destroying  hand  of  the  enemy,  and  if  we  fight 
at  all,  must  make  a  stand  in  the  rear  of  both. 

It  is  a  very  bad  principle,  to  trust  to  the  usual  slug 
gishness  and  inactivity  of  the  enemy.  But  when  I 
reflect  upon  the  great  indulgence  of  Gen1  Howe,  I  draw 
some  consolation  from  hoping  that  he  will  not  do  vio 
lence  to  his  nature  by  any  extraordinary  exertions  at 
the  present  moment,  but  postpone  his  visit  'till  we  be 
better  prepared  for  receiving  him.  These  truths  are 
deposited  in  the  breasts  of  a  few,  and  must  be  deplored 
in  silence.  But  every  prudent  method  and  general 
argument  should  be  used  to  stimulate  the  different 
states  to  the  immediate  completion  of  their  regiments. 

I  am  truly  sensible  of  your  kindness  011  the  subject 
of  my  black  battalion.  Nothing  would  tempt  me  to 
quit  my  present  station,  but  a  prospect  of  being  more 
useful  in  another. 

The  ambition  of  serving  my  country,  and  desire  of 
gaining  fame,  leads  me  to  wish  for  the  command  of 
men.  I  would  cherish  those  dear,  ragged  Continentals, 
whose  patience  will  be  the  admiration  of  future  ages, 
and  glory  in  bleeding  with  them. 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  137 

It  gives  mo  the  most  serious  concern,  to  find  that 
you  have  any  thoughts  of  retiring  from  Congress. 
That  body  collectively  —  it  is  a  deplorable  truth  —  has 
fallen  into  disrepute.  Firm  and  disinterested  patriots 
are  more  than  ever  wanted.  I  entreat  you  in  the 
name  of  your  country,  not  to  lessen  their  numbers  at 
this  critical  epoch  of  our  affairs.  I  think  the  sum 
proposed  might  be  very  usefully  disposed.  The 
effect  greatly  depends  upon  a  judicious  distribution, 
and  would  be  more  certain  if  the  sum  could  be  aug 
mented  by  other  contributions.  A  gift  of  this  kind, 
deposited  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Franklin,  at  Phila 
delphia,  might  prove  a  blessing  to  the  sick  and  naked. 
Blankets,  and  a  few  of  the  little  articles  which  comfort 
disordered  nature,  would  lessen  the  horrors  of  a  goal, 
and  keep  our  unhappy  soldiers  from  despair. 

The  Baron  Steuben  has  had  the  fortune  to  please 
uncommonly,  for  a  stranger,  at  first  sight. 

All  the  gen1  officers  who  have  seen  him,  are  prepos 
sessed  in  his  favor,  and  conceive  highly  of  his  abilities. 
I  must  tell  you  tho',  by  the  bye,  that  Congress  has 
mistaken  his  rank  in  Prussia.  He  was  there  lieute 
nant  general  quarticr  maitre,  which  in  good  English 
is  deputy  quarter  master  general.  He  had  never  any 
higher  rank  in  the  Prussian  service,  than  that  of 
colonel.  But  he  was  lieutenant  general  of  the  Mar 
grave  de  Baden's  troops,  after  he  had  retired  from  the 

Prussian   army   in    disgust,     As  far  as  my   line  can 
18 


138  CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

reach,  I  conceive  the   baron  to  be  profound  in  the 
military  science. 

The  General  seems  to  have  a  very  good  opinion  of 
him,  and  thinks  he  might  be  usefully  employed 
in  the  office  of  inspector  general,  but  I  fancy  is 
cautious  of  recommending  it  to  Congress,  as  he  might 
appear  implacably  to  pursue  a  certain  person  to  whom 
Congress  gave  that  post.  Now  it  is  a  doubt  with  me 
whether  the  gentleman  in  question  was  not  virtually 
removed  from  the  inspectorship  by  being  ordered  on 
the  Canadian  expedition.  In  that  case,  the  difficulty 
would  be  obviated.  The  baron's  own  desire  is  to 
have  for  the  present  the  rank  and  pay  of  major  gen1; 
not  to  have  any  actual  command,  until  he  is  better 
known,  and  shall  be  better  qualified  by  a  knowledge 
of  our  language,  and  the  genius  and  manners  of  the 
people.  Then,  if  any  stroke  is  to  be  struck,  his  ambi 
tion  prompts  him  to  solicit  a  command. 

Mrs.  Washington  has  received  the  miniature,  and 
wishes  to  know  whether  Major  Rogers  is  still  at 
York.  The  defects  of  this  portrait  I  think  are,  that 
the  visage  is  too  long,  and  old  age  is  too  strongly 
marked  in  it.  He  is  not  altogether  mistaken,  wTith 
respect  to  the  languor  of  the  general's  eye  ;  for  altho' 
his  countenance  when  affected  either  by  joy  or  anger, 
is  full  of  expression,  yet  when  the  muscles  are  in  a 
state  of  repose,  his  eye  certainly  wants  animation. 
My  proficiency  in  this  kind  of  drawing  never  went 
beyond  sketching  a  profile.  I  never  attempted  to 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  139 

paint  a  miniature  likeness  of  a  full  face.  There  is  a 
miniature  painter  in  camp  who  has  made  two  or 
three  successful  attempts  to  produce  the  general's 
likeness. 

The  indulgence  granted  to  Gen1  Burgoyne,  I  have 
no  doubt  will  operate  rather  to  our  advantage,  than 
otherwise.  He  is  too  much  a  man  of  the  world  not 
to  have  a  convenient  pliability,  and  therefore  I  am 
not  surprised  that  in  his  present  circumstances,  he 
has  paid  homage  to  Congress. 

Since  the  1st  of  the  month,  we  have  had  twenty-two 
deserters  from  the  enemy,  exclusive  of  those  of  our 
own  soldiers,  who,  during  their  confinement,  had 
been  driven  by  unremitting  inhumanity  to  enter  their 
service,  and  embraced  the  first  opportunity  to  escape. 
Of  the  latter  class,  so  many  have  given  them  the  slip 
immediately  on  receiving  their  new  clothes,  that  Gen1 
Howe  under  pretence  of  paying  the  passages  of  our 
deserters  to  England,  for  their  greater  security  against 
our  pursuit,  distributes  them  on  board  the  fleet,  where 
they  will  either  be  made  seamen,  or  kept  for  the  ser 
vice  of  the  islands,  E.  Indies,  etc.  By  the  accounts  of 
deserters  yesterday,  it  appears  that  the  enemy  have 
embarked,  or  are  preparing  to  embark,  a  considerable 
number  of  invalids.  The  intelligence  given  by  the 
majority  of  them  confirms  our  ideas  of  the  weak 
state  of  their  regiments,  and  from  Mr.  Howe's  charac 
teristic  caution  almost  ensures  us  against  an  attack 
before  his  reinforcements  arrive. 


140  CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

We  have  the  pleasure  to  be  informed  that  the 
recruiting  service  goes  extremely  well  on  in  the  Dela 
ware  state,  and  there  are  good  prospects  in  the  eastern 
states  of  completing  the  regiments  speedily.  You  will 
be  informed  of  Cap*  Barry's  success  with  two  or  three 
armed  boats  on  the  Delaware.  Two  transports  loaded 
with  forage,  one  of  them  mounting  six  four  pounders 
attended  by  a  schooner,  mounting  eight  four  pounders 
and  four  howitzers,  fell  into  his  hands,  by  his  gal 
lantry  and  address.  The  schooner  had  011  board  a 
lieutenant  of  engineers  and  company  of  artificers, 
some  valuable  intrenching  tools,  officers'  baggage  and 
wines,  delicacies  destined  for  Gen1  Howe's  table,  etc. 
Cap*  Barry  was  obliged  to  destroy  the  ships,  and  set 
out  on  a  new  cruise  with  the  schooner.  A  large  fleet 
of  the  enemy's  vessels  were  coming  up  the  river. 
Barry  mantained  an  obstinate  light ;  his  men  once 
leaped  into  the  boat  and  were  preparing  to  desert  him  ; 
his  presence  of  mind  and  singular  address  recovered 
them.  He  renewed  the  combat,  but  surrounded  and 
overpowered,  he  was  obliged  to  run  his  schooner  on 
shore,  where  he  saved  the  camion  and  every  thing 
valuable,  and  rendered  the  schooner  useless.  You 
may  see  that  I  write  in  great  haste,  which  I  am  the 
more  sorry  for,  as  it  would  give  me  pleasure  to  dwell 
upon  the  praises  due  to  Cap*  Barry.  Among  other 
tinners  taken  on  board  the  schooner  are  a  number  of 

O 

German  letters  and  papers  relative  to  the  foreign  regi 
ments  in  British  service,    from  whence  we   hope  to 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  141 

gain  some  useful  intelligence.  Gen1  Knyphausen's 
order  of  the  Lion  d'or  is  likewise  taken,  but  will  be 
sent  unto  him. 

I  am  ever  your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

With  this  you  will  receive  a  letter  from  Baron 
Steuben. 

If  among  the  books  Duplessis  has  given  you,  there 
is  one  entitled  La  Tactique  de  Ghibert,  I  am  very 
anxious  to  read  it. 

Likewise  the  work  of  Mesnil  Durand. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  14/!/i  March,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

This  will  be  delivered  to  you  by  the  Count  Pulaski, 
whose  prowess  is  not  unknown  to  you. 

The  dislike  of  some  of  his  officers  to  him  as  a 
stranger,  the  advantages  which  they  have  taken  of  him 
as  such,  and  their  constant  contrivances  to  thwart  him 
on  every  occasion,  made  it  impossible  for  him  to 
command  with  that  satisfaction  to  himself  and  benefit 
to  the  public,  which  would  undoubtedly  have  resulted 
from  their  acting  in  concert  with  him.  He  has  there 
fore  resigned  his  command,  and  determines  to  solicit 
Congress  to  entrust  him  with  a  legionary  corps  com 
posed  of  68  horse,  and  about  200  foot.  With  such  a 


142  CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

corps  and  proper  officers  under  him,  to  be  perpetually 
scouring  the  interval  between  the  two  armies,  and 
embracing  every  opportunity  for  a  stroke  of  partisan 
ship,  he  thinks  he  will  render  considerable  service, 
and  I  am  persuaded  from  his  intelligence  and  enter 
prising  spirit,  that  the  event  will  do  him  honour. 

His  military  ardour  is  very  great,  and  he  is  exceed 
ingly  uneasy,  lest  by  any  delay  on  the  part  of  Congress 
he  should  be  obliged  to  appear  late  in  the  field,  Avhich 
would  be  almost  as  painful  to  him  as  refusal  in  the 
first  instance. 

He  apprehends  no  difficulty  in  raising  his  number 
of  cavalry ;  to  engage  the  quota  of  infantry  will  be 
almost  impossible,  unless  Congress  will  make  an 
exception  in  his  favour  to  their  resolution  against  the 
admission  of  prisoners  and  deserters  into  the  service. 
This  is  warranted  by  the  practice  of  other  nations, 
and  deserters,  etc.,  enlisted  in  detached  corps  are  not 
by  any  means  so  dangerous  as  if  they  were  admitted 
in  the  line. 

The  count  will  be  allowed,  I  presume,  the  Contin 
ental  bounty  for  men,  and  the  rate  established  for 
equipping  his  cavalry.  His  eagerness  to  distinguish 
himself  will  not  suffer  him  to  confine  himself  to  the 
latter  if  he  finds  it  inadequate. 

He  expects  to  retain  his  rank  as  brigadier.  If  his 
whole  history  were  known,  Congress  would  grant  his 
request  with  thanks  for  his  generous  disinterestedness 
on  the  present  occasion. 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN   LAURENS.  143 

I  beg  leave  to  introduce  the  Count  to  your  acquaint 
ance  ;  you  may  depend  upon  it  that  Congress  will  not 
have  reason  to  repent  of  having  employed  him  in  the 
way  which  is  proposed. 

His  zeal  for  our  cause  and  courage,  proof  against 
every  danger  will  cover  him  with  glory,  and  I  hope 
promote  the  general  interest. 

I  am  your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 
The  Honblc  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 

President  of  Congress,  York. 
Favd  by  Brigad  General  Count  Pulaski. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  22d  March,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

This  will  be  delivered  to  you  by  Brigadier  General 
Du  Portail,  commanding  officer  of  Engineers,  whom 
I  am  glad  of  having  an  opportunity  of  introducing  to 
your  acquaintance.  His  knowledge  of  his  profession 
renders  him  respectable,  and  by  aiding  his  want  of 
fluency  in  the  English,  with  your  French,  you  will 
find  his  conversation  agreeable  and  worth  attending  to. 

I  do  not  know  whether  what  I  am  going  to  solicit 
can  be  effected,  nor  would  I  ask  it  if  it  were  anything 
contrary  to  rule,  or  that  could  be  productive  of  the 
most  remote  ill  consequences.  Mr.  De  Murnant,  a 
French  gentleman,  offered  himself  as  assistant  en- 


144  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

gineer,  under  strong  recommendations  from  Gen1  Du 
Portail.  His  excellency  submitted  the  matter  to  the 
committee  in  camp,  and  it  is  very  probable  that  in 
the  order  of  business  it  might  not  present  itself  till 
very  late  for  the  ratification  of  Congress.  In  the 
mean  time,  the  poor  man  is  kept  in  a  state  of  sus 
pense,  and  what  is  equally  bad,  of  expence.  If  the 
question  relative  to  him  could  be  brought  011  the 
carpet  immediately,  as  it  cannot  be  a  subject  of  long 
debate  or  occasion  any  interruption  to  business, 
Gen1  Du  Portail  and  himself  wish  that  it  maybe  done. 
He  is  at  present  employed  in  works  of  the  camp. 

I  must  not  defer  thanking  you  for  your  kind  letter 
of  the  15th  inst.  Tho'  I  am  unable  to  give  such 
answer  to  it  as  you  wish,  I  still  hope  that  the  argu 
ments  which  you  use  on  the  subject  of  your  retiring 
from  Congress,  will  be  seen  in  another  light. 

Du  Plessis  told  me  that  he  had  commissioned  a  Mr. 
De  la  Balme  to  put  some  books  into  your  hands  for 
me.  My  dearest  friend  and  father,  adieu. 

Ever  your  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 
President  of  Congress,  York. 

Favd  by  Gen1  Du  Portail. 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  145 

HEAD  QUARTERS,  25/A  March,  1778. 

I  was  obliged  to  write  you  a  hurried  letter  by  the 
hands  of  Gen1  Dii  1'ortail  and  had  barely  time  to 
acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  favour  of  the  15th. 
Yesterday  I  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  your  kind 
letter  of  the  22d  with  S°.  Carolina  papers  and  letters 
from  England.  Among  them  was  the  enclosed  for 
you,  which  I  take  to  be  from  my  wife.  Her  last  date 
to  me  is  the  1st  November,  at  which  time  she  and  your 
granddaughter  were  well.  I  enclose  you  likewise  the 
last  letter  from  Mr.  Manning,  the  others  were  all  of 
old  dates.  As  Gen1  Mclntosh  is  ordered  with  a 
detachment  on  the  other  side  Schuylkil,  to  cover  the 
passage  of  a  large  drove  of  cattle  that  have  crossed 
the  Delaware  at  Sherard's  ferry,  I  take  the  liberty  of 
detaining  the  N.  papers  till  his  return,  which  will  be 
in  a  day  or  two,  that  he  may  not  miss  what  will  be  so 
great  a  treat  to  him.  He  has  mentioned  to  me  several 
times  of  late,  that  he  fancied  you  were  retaliating  his 
ancient  delinquencies. 

I  am  grieved  that  you  persevere  in  your  resolution 
of  retiring  from  Congress.  Your  reelection  is  a 
testimony  of  the  good  opinion  of  your  countrymen, 
and  I  think  it  is  needless  to  urge  the  necessity  of 
increasing  rather  than  diminishing  the  number  of 
able  and  virtuous  men  in  the  grand  council  of  the 
nation. 

The  retiring  of  a  single  one  at  the  present  crisis 
19 


146  CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

is  a  dangerous  example,  and  may  fatally  strengthen 
the  hands  of  those  who  have  not  the  cause  of  liberty 
and  the  interest  of  their  country  at  heart.  I  have 
long  anxiously  desired  to  see  you,  but  the  unabating 
flow  of  business  in  the  general's  family  restrained 
me  from  asking  leave.  Two  of  our  gentlemen l  are 
appointed  commissioners  to  meet  General  Howe  at 
German  Town,  for  negociating  the  exchange  of 
prisoners.  Their  absence  will  render  the  presence 
of  the  rest  more  than  ever  necessary;  but  if  you 
will  give  me  notice  when  it  will  be  convenient  for 
me  to  come,  I  will  ask  for  a  short  furlough,  that  I 
may  have  the  happiness  of  embracing  you,  and  say 
ing  many  things  which  are  not  so  well  expressed  in 
writing. 

The  Baron  Steuben  has  commenced  the  functions  of 
inspector  general.  Several  officers  whose  character 
and  abilities  give  them  influence,  and  are  pledges  of 
success,  are  to  be  nominated  as  sub-inspectors ;  intelli 
gent  active  men  are  appointed  to  each  brigade  to 
serve  as  brigade  inspectors.  The  baron  has  given 
some  elementary  lessons  in  writing,  preparatory  to 
ulterior  instructions ;  and  we  hope  by  this  institution 
that  the  important  end  of  establishing  uniformity  of 
discipline  and  manoeuvres  throughout  the  army  will  be 
accomplished. 

This  I  communicate  to  yourself  only,  for  I  don't 


1  Colonels  Harrison  and  Hamilton. 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF  JOHN    LAURENS.  147 

know  whether  the  general  communicates  this  plan  by 
this  courier  for  ratification. 

The  baron  discovers  the  greatest  zeal,  and  an 
activity  which  is  hardly  to  be  expected  at  his 
years.  The  officers  in  general  seem  to  entertain 
a  high  opinion  of  him,  and  he  sets  them  an  excellent 
example  in  descending  to  the  functions  of  a  drill- 
sergeant. 

A  French  gentleman  of  the  name  of  Ternaut  with 
whom  I  was  slightly  acquainted  at  the  cape  Frai^ois, 
is  arrived  in  camp,  and  offers  himself  as  one  of  the 
sub-inspectors.  His  talents  qualify  him  in  a  superior 
degree  for  the  office.  He  has  travelled  so  much 
as  to  have  worn  off  the  characteristic  manners  of 
his  nation,  and  he  speaks  our  language  uncommonly 
well. 

The  baron  is  very  desirous  of  having  him  as  an 
assistant,  and  says  he  is  persuaded  he  will  be  an  acqui 
sition  to  the  States.  The  only  thing  against  him  is, 
that  he  comes  without  recommendatory  letters.  The 
Congress  have  I  think  very  wisely  resolved  against 
employing  any  more  foreigners  unless  they  are  forced 
to  it  by  the  special  contracts  of  their  embassadors,  or 
very  pointed  recommendations.  On  this  account  the 
General  has,  in  order  that  the  baron  might  not  lose  so 
good  an  assistant,  put  the  matter  upon  this  footing : 
that  Mr.  Ternaut  may  exercise  the  office  of  sub-in 
spector  without  rank  for  the  present ;  and  that  when 
his  practical  abilities  are  as  well  known  as  his  theo- 


148  CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

retical,  Congress  will  determine  a  rank  suitable  to  his 
merit.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  he  studied  engineer 
ing  particularly,  and  would  have  wished  to  join  the 
corps  here,  but  party  differences  were  an  invincible 
obstacle.  He  has  not,  however,  confined  his  views  to 
that  branch  of  military  science,  but  seems  to  be  equally 
well  instructed  in  every  other. 

If  an  exception  to  the  generally  established  rule  is 
ever  to  be  made,  I  think  it  can  never  be  with  more 
propriety  than  in  favour  of  a  person  who  merits  such 
qualifications. 

The  baron  desires  his  friendly  compliments  to  you. 
Apropos  to  him,  his  secretary,  and  a  Monr  de  Pon- 
tieres  have  certificates  signed  by  the  president  of 
Congress  setting  forth  that  they  are  to  have  the  rank 
of  captains. 

I  think  they  were  not  announced  as  such  to  the 
General.  Baron  Steuben's  secretary  is  desirous  of 
drawing  his  pay,  and  upon  application  to  the  General, 
who  is  not  explicitly  acquainted  with  the  intentions  of 
Congress  in  this  matter,  was  required  to  draw  on 
account.  This  has  created  some  uneasiness  in  the 
Baron's  mind,  and  he  wishes  to  know  whether  Mr. 
Duponceau  is  not  entitled  to  the  pay,  as  well  as  rank 
of  captain. 

I  think  if  I  could  have  half  an  hour's  conversation 
with  you,  my  dear  father,  I  could  prove  to  you  so 
clearly  how  much  the  public  interest  is  concerned  in 
your  remaining  in  Congress,  that  you  would  not 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  149 

refuse  yourself  to  tins  duty.    Anticipating  the  pleasure 
of  embracing  you,  I  am,  my  dear  father, 

Your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 
The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 

President  of  Congress,  York. 
(Private). 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  28th  March,  1778. 

Last  night  General  Mclntosh  returned  with  the 
agreeable  intelligence  that  the  supply  of  cattle  which 
he  was  ordered  to  protect  was  out  of  danger. 

He  received  the  S°.  Carolina  newspapers  in  ecstacy, 
and  we  had  some  serious  conversation  together  upon 
the  subject  of  your  retiring  from  Congress,  in  which 
we  determined  that  your  presence  in  that  assembly  is 
more  necessary  now,  than  it  would  have  been  at  any 
other  period  since  the  revolution.  More  judgment, 
more  spirit,  more  firmness  in  the  conduct  of  the 
political  bark  are  required  than  ever.  So  far  are  we 
from  thinking  that  your  service  may  be  dispensed 
with  on  account  of  the  appointment  of  the  other  dele 
gates  from  S°.  Carolina,  that  we  judge  it  more  pecu 
liarly  incumbent  on  you,  in  consequence  of  the  choice 
of  one  whose  great  talents,  from  a  defect  of  probity, 
render  him  the  more  dangerous  to  remain  a  guardian 
of  the  liberties  of  these  rising  Slates;  and  not  by  your 


150          CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

absence  to  strengthen  the  party  of  men  who  make 
their  individual  selves  the  centre  of  the  universe. 

I  conjure  you,  my  dearest  friend  and  father,  in  the 
name  of  your  country,  not  to  leave  the  fate  of  this 
empire,  this  last  asylum  of  liberty,  at  their  disposal. 
Every  one  of  your  letters,  in  which  you  so  pathetically 
describe  the  low  ebb  of  patriotism,  furnishes  me  with 
irrefutable  arguments. 

You  do  not  particularly  mention  your  reasons  for 
quitting  the  Congress  at  this  time.  Impaired  health, 
diminution  of  property  and  other  reasons  which  have 
their  weight  might  be  urged,  but  what  can  be  put  in 
competition  with  the  object  of  your  present  labours. 

I  am  happy  to  hear  that  Congress  is  about  to  reward 
Captain  Lee  of  the  dragoons  for  his  distinguished 
services.  His  brilliant  actions  have  been  so  frequent, 
that  I  think  their  decision  need  not  be  preceded  by 
much  deliberation. 

Nothing  but  his  own  modesty  has  prevented  his 
being  recommended  to  the  notice  of  Congress  long 
since.  This  officer  only  wants  a  larger  sphere  of 
action  to  show  the  extent  of  his  military  talents,  and 
it  will  be  for  the  benefit  of  the  service,  as  well  as  a 
piece  of  justice  to  entrust  him  with  a  larger  command, 
and  honour  him  with  a  higher  rank.  The  presence  of 
disinterested  patriots  is  wanted,  if  it  were  only  to 
patronize  real  merit,  and  oppose  the  sudden  rise  of 
persons  who  have  nothing  but  connections  and  family 
interest  to  recommend  them. 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  151 

From  some  accounts  lately  received,  it  appears  that 
Gen1  Howe  is  concentrating  his  forces.  Such  of  his 
transports  as  are  at  sea  will  be  much  exposed  to  the 
dangers  of  a  lee-shore,  by  the  storm  of  eastern  wind 
which  seems  to  increase  every  moment.  The  advan 
tage  which  he  will  have  over  us,  if  his  transports  are 
safe,  and  have  tolerable  passages  will  be,  a  power 
of  taking  the  field  earlier  than  we  can.  If  he  would 
do  us  the  favour  of  attacking  us  in  the  position  we  are 
now  fortifying,  we  might  safely  allow  him  a  superi 
ority  of  numbers.  But  we  must  have  our  tents  early, 
for  in  case  of  attack,  we  must  sacrifice  our  huts. 

This  goes  under  the  care  of  Brigadier  Gen1  Wood- 
ford,  who  is  proceeding  to  Virginia  on  public  and 
private  business. 

With  the  tenderest  affection,  your  dutiful  son. 

JOHN  LAURENS. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  1st  April,  1778. 
My  dear  Father : 

I  have  received  your  kind  favour  of  yesterday,  inclos 
ing  a  letter  from  Stephorsts  at  Amsterdam,  which 
served  as  a  cover  to  a  letter  from  my  wife,  of  the  23d 
October,  in  which  she  informs  me  that  my  uncle  and 
family  were  shortly  expected  in  London,  to  take  leave 
of  their  friends,  previous  to  setting  out  for  the  south 
of  France. 


152  CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN   LAURENS. 

Deserters  and  inhabitants  from  Philadelphia  say 
that  there  are  no  troops  arrived  there,  except  a  few 
German  convalescents  from  Xew  York.  Neither 
does  it  appear  by  their  accounts  that  the  large  fleet 
mentioned  by  General  Smallwood,  which  probably 
consists  of  victuallers  and  forage  ships,  is  arrived  yet 
at  the  city. 

Our  commissioners  proceeded  yesterday  morning 
to  German  Town  according  to  agreement,  and  a  strict 
neutrality  and  suspension  of  hostilities  are  to  be 
observed  in  all  the  extent  of  the  village  during  the 
conference.  The  English  commissioners,  I  am  in 
formed,  returned  to  town  last  night.  If  they  intend 
to  do  so  every  night,  they  will  have  the  advantage  of 
constant  and  more  minute  consultations  with  their 
principal. 

I  must  not  omit  to  inform  you  that  Baron  Steuben 
is  making  a  sensible  progress  with  our  soldiers.  The 
officers  seem  to  have  a  high  opinion  of  him,  and 
discover  a  docility  from  which  we  may  augur  the 
most  happy  effects. 

It  would  enchant  you  to  see  the  enlivened  scene  of 
our  Campus  Martins.  If  Mr.  Howe  opens  the  cam 
paign  with  his  usual  deliberation,  and  our  recruits  or 
draughts  come  in  tolerably  well,  we  shall  be  infinitely 
better  prepared  to  meet  him,  than  ever  we  have  been. 

Mr.  Francis,  who  will  deliver  you  this,  takes  charge 
likewise  of  your  Carolina  newspapers. 

He  speaks  of  you  in  terms  of  such   high  respect, 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  153 

as  arc  exceedingly  grateful  to  one  who  is  so  devoted 

to  you  as  your 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

I  inclose  you  a  billet  which  I  received  this  morning 
from  Bringhurst. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 

President  of  Congress,  York. 
(Private). 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  5/A  April,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  have  barely  time  to  thank  you  for  your  kind  letter 
accompanied  by  the  speech  and  letter  of  President 
Rutledge,  on  the  subject  of  his  resignation.  As  I 
have  not  found  a  leisure  moment  proper  for  submit 
ting  them  to  the  perusal  of  the  General,  I  take  the 
liberty  of  detaining  them  'till  another  opportunity 
offers. 

In  the  mean  time,  I  have  in  general  terms  commu 
nicated  the  intelligence  to  his  Excellency. 

My  opinion  was  formed  immediately  upon  reading 
the  matter  over.  I  certainly  think  Mr.  President  is 
right  in  the  principle  which  he  lays  down  relative  to 
the  limited  powers  of  those  to  whom  the  people  have 
committed  that  Constitution,  by  which  they  wish  to  be 
governed.  They  are  to  make  laws  conformably  to 

the  Constitution,  but  they  have  no  authority  to  alter 
20 


154  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

or  change  the  Constitution.  I  disagree  with  him 
when  he  makes  our  present  form  of  government  have 
such  an  absolute  respect  to  an  accommodation  with  G* 
Britain,  and  when  he  declares  the  present  Constitu 
tion  of  S°.  Carolina  to  be  the  best  we  are  capable  of 
receiving ;  but  I  hope  to  have  time  to  speak  more  fully 
on  this  subject  in  my  next. 

The  conduct  of  Congress  in  giving  orders  to  offi 
cers  on  detached  commands,  without  communicating 
them  to  the  General,  is  not  only  a  deficiency  of  polite 
ness,  considered  as  an  omission  of  a  compliment 
which  is  due  to  him,  but  likewise  a  breach  of  military 
propriety.  He  ought  undoubtedly  to  be  acquainted 
with  whatever  orders  arc  given  to  those  who  are 
at  the  same  time  under  his  command,  that  he  may 
govern  himself  by  them  and  not  be  exposed  to  contra- 
riate  them.  We  expect  the  pleasure  of  Gen1  Lee's 
company  to  dinner,  and  are  preparing  to  receive  him 
with  distinction. 

Adieu,  my  dearest  friend  and  father. 

I  am  ever  your  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 
President  of  Congress,  York. 

(Private). 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  155 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  llth  April,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  have  read  with  attention  your  kind  favour  of  the 
2d  inst.,  and  have  frequently  had  occasion  to  discuss 
the  suhject  matter  of  it.  I  have  more  than  once  con 
tended,  that  supposing  the  Congress  should  be  guilty 
of  the  greatest  injustice  towards  the  officers  of  the 
army,  a  general  abandonment  of  the  service  at  this 
perilous  crisis,  the  consequences  of  which  must  evi 
dently  be  the  ruin  of  our  cause,  would  merit  eternal 
infamy.  A  majority,  composed  perhaps  only  of  ten 
men,  conduct  the  present  system,  will  you,  to  punish 
them  for  acting  either  unadvisedly  or  even  with  ill 
design,  sacrifice  the  liberties  of  America,  and  des 
perately  involve  yourselves  in  the  perdition  which 
you  bring  upon  them?  That  man,  however  injured 
by  the  representatives  of  the  people,  who  will  desert 
the  public  interest,  is  destitute  of  virtue  and  unworthy 
to  be  free. 

I  must  confess  to  you,  with  grief,  my  dearest  friend, 
that  upon  a  nearer  view,  I  have  a  far  less  respectable 
idea  of  my  countrymen  than  when  I  beheld  their 
struggle  from  afar,  and  could  not  distinguish  the  vices 
with  which  they  are  oppressed.  I  was  thunderstruck 
at  hearing  a  system  adopted  of  governing  men  by 
their  vices,  and  putting  public  virtue  and  patriotism 
out  of  the  question,  as  nonentities,  a  system  so  sub- 


156          CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

versive  of  republicanism  that  if  it  prevails,  we  may 
bid  adieu  to  our  liberties. 

Before  I  received  your  letter,  I  was  generally  against 
the  pensionary  half  pay  establishment,  but  had  not 
seen  in  their  full  extent  the  inconveniences  that  would 
arise  from  it.  You  have  developed  some  ideas  that 
had  but  slightly  and  feebly  presented  themselves  to 
me,  and  have  confirmed  my  opinion ;  but,  at  the  same 
time  that  I  require  such  virtue  in  those  of  the  army, 
as  to  esteem  the  loss  of  estate  a  cheap  price  to  pay  for 
the  honour  of  establishing  the  liberties  of  their  country, 
I  would  wish  the  burthens  of  society  as  equally  dis 
tributed  as  possible,  that  there  may  not  be  one  part  of 
the  community  appropriating  to  itself  the  summit  of 
wealth  and  grandeur,  while  another  is  reduced  to 
extreme  indigence  in  the  common  cause.  By  what 
means  this  is  to  be  effected  wise  legislators  must 
determine.  The  power  of  our  enemies  and  their  per 
fection  in  the  military  science,  opposed  to  our  inexpe 
rience,  seem  to  render  it  impolitic  to  arrive  at  this  by 
alternation  in  military  service.  Our  safety  requires 
that  we  should  retain  those  officers  and  soldiers  who 
are  most  enured  to  arms,  in  order  to  oppose  veterans. 
Can  it  be  effected  by  taxes  on  luxuries,  which  would 
be  felt  only  by  the  rich  ?  In  a  republic  there  ought 
to  be  the  penalties  of  sumptuary  laws,  and  should  be 
so  severe  as  to  amount  to  a  prohibition ;  consequently 
no  fund  could  be  established  by  these  means,  to 
answer  any  extensive  purpose. 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  157 

If  we  were  as  virtuous  as  we  ought  to  be,  we  should 
have  those  who  are  enriching  themselves  by  com 
merce,  privateering  and  farming,  supplying  the  army 
with  every  necessary  convenience  at  a  moderate  rate  ; 
but  as  experience  proves  that  it  is  in  vain  to  expect  this, 
all  I  would  demand  of  Congress,  is  that  they  would 
contrive  some  means  of  furnishing  us  with  articles 
which  nature  cannot  forego,  and  which  are  useful  in 
giving  respectability  to  the  military  state,  at  such 
prices  as  bear  some  proportion  to  our  pay. 

I  would  wish  to  see  the  military  state  rendered 
honorable,  and  all  odious  distinctions  of  jealousy  laid 
aside,  for  we  are  all  citizens,  and  have  no  separate 
interests.  If  mediocrity  could  be  established  gene 
rally,  by  any  means,  it  would  be  well ;  it  would  ensure 
us  virtue  and  render  our  independency  permanent. 
But  there  never  will  be  virtue  in  the  poor,  when  there 
are  rich  in  the  same  community.  By  imperceptible 
and  indirect  methods,  we  should  labour  to  establish 
and  maintain  equality  of  fortunes  as  much  as  possible, 
if  we  would  continue  to  be  free. 

It  is  a  fact  that  our  officers  cannot  satisfy  the  simple 
wants  of  nature,  much  less  make  that  appearance 
which  is  annexed  to  the  military  state,  with  their  pay. 
It  is  no  less  a  fact  that  in  every  town  on  the  continent, 
luxury  nourishes  as  it  would  among  a  people  who  had 
conquered  the  world,  and  were  about  to  pay  for  their 
victories,  by  their  decline.  This  I  hope  Congress  will 
take  seriously  into  consideration. 


158  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

I  would  by  no  means  wish  our  pay  to  be  increased, 
but  I  would  wish  to  see  temptations  to  peculation  in 
weak  men  removed,  and  the  honest  man  delivered 
from  the  necessity  of  reducing  himself  to  beggary. 
This  will  best  be  effected  by  a  public  establishment 
for  supplying  wants  at  a  moderate  price. 

I  have  received  your  favour,  inclosing  a  note  for 
Bringhurst,  which  will  be  sent  to  him  by  the  first  good 
opportunity. 

Your  favour  of  the  9th  is  just  received,  with  the  blue 
cloth  and  the  buttons,  for  which  I  return  you  my  best 
thanks.  The  last  paragraph  makes  me  the  more 
uneasy,  as  I  do  not  know  in  what  way  we  are  menaced 
and  what  is  the  extent  of  the  danger. 

"We  have  heard  nothing  from  our  commissioners 
since  their  arrival  at  ]^ew  Town,  from  whence  WQ 
conclude  that  they  are  going  on  well.  They  were 
exceedingly  chagrined  at  the  distrust  of  their  abilities 
which  was  conspicuous  in  the  resolves  of  Congress. 
They  had  been  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  prospects 
which  they  had  at  their  first  interview,  at  German 
Town. 

Inclosed  you  will  receive  the  Kutledge  papers. 
The  General  has  been  so  much  occupied  that  I 
have  not  given  them  him  to  read,  and  though  he 
has  got  over  his  great  business  of  a  long  official 
letter,  I  fear  to  detain  them  any  longer.  Altho'  he 
is  an  advocate  for  the  half  pay  establishment,  on  the 
principles  of  economy  and  justice  to  the  officers,  I 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  159 

apprehend  that  if  any  other  mode  were  proposed 
for  rendering  commissions  honorable,  and  enabling 
the  officers  to  subsist  with  decency,  he  is  not  invio 
lably  attached  to  this. 

Your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

My  best  respects  to  Mr.  Drayton ;  I  will  be  looking 
out  for  quarters  for  him. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 

President  of  Congress,  York. 
(Private). 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  18th  Ajml,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  have  barely  time  to  inclose  you  a  Philadelphia 
paper  and  to  thank  you  for  the  epaulettes  which  you 
were  so  kind  as  to  send  me. 

The  General  sends  you  a  handbill  which  has  been 
artfully  thrown  out  by  the  enemy,  and  which,  unless 
properly  counteracted,  will  undubitably  tend  to  fo 
ment  disunion,  perhaps  the  only  and  evidently  the 
surest  method  of  destroying  us.  The  deserters  who 
have  come  in  lately  say  it  is  a  common  talk  that  over 
tures  are  to  be  made  for  a  treaty  of  peace.  Cap*  Gibbes 
of  the  General's  guard  is  now  at  Lancaster,  and  I  have 
employed  him  to  purchase  me  summer  wear.  My 
want  of  it  will  depend  upon  his  success.  However,  if 


160  CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

what  is  at  York  is  very  good,  I  shall  be  very  glad  to 
have  as  much  as  will  make  a  skirtless  waistcoat  and  a 
pair  of  breeches. 

With  respect  to  the  spurs  which  you  have  been  so 
kind  as  to  take  so  much  trouble  about,  my  reason  for 
desiring  James  to  have  them  changed  was  on  account 
of  their  weakness.  Being  all  silver  they  are  apt  to 
break;  and  I  imagined  that  he  might  without  diffi 
culty  exchange  them  for  a  pair  of  plated.  If  he  can 
not,  he  must  get  them  mended  and  I  must  use  them 
tenderly. 

Apropos  to  spurs,  I  think  in  the  present  deplorable 
scarcity  of  good  horses,  it  would  be  a  very  acceptable 
present  to  the  Baron  Steuben  on  the  part  of  Congress 
to  give  him  an  elegant  saddle  horse.  He  is  exerting 
himself  like  a  lieutenant  anxious  for  promotion,  and 
the  good  effects  of  his  labour  are  visible. 

The  General  I  apprehend  is  restrained  from  writing 
to  Congress  on  this  head  till  he  shall  be  acquainted 
with  the  sentiments  of  the  brigadiers  respecting  the 
Baron's  rank  (but  this  between  ourselves),  as  far  as  I 
can  learn  in  conversation  with  those  gentlemen,  every 
one  is  convinced  of  his  zeal  and  abilities,  and  thinks 
him  deserving  of  the  grade  which  he  asks  for. 

Praying  your  indulgence  for  this  hurried  and 
almost  illegible  production, 

I  assure  you  of  my  constant  love. 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

"All   our  foreign  publications  seem  to  regard   an 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.          161 

European  war,  as  a  certain  consequence  of  the  Elector 
of  Bavaria's  death. 

"  Mr.  R.  Strettle  Jones,  an  ostensible  and  a  very 
intelligent  man,  writes  from  Philadelphia  to  a  friend 
of  his  in  the  army  that  Lord  Chatham  was  certainly 
at  the  head  of  administration. 

"  The  reports  of  a  French  war  tho'  stifled  as  much 
as  possible  are  generally  believed." 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  20th  April,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

You  will  receive  by  this  courier,  Ld  North's  recanta 
tion.  It  would  make  an  admirable  contrast  with  a 
vehement  oration  which  I  heard  him  pronounce  in 
the  confidence  of  success,  while  I  was  in  England. 
The  treachery  which  he  renounces  is  too  palpable  in 
his  conciliatory  overtures,  to  deceive  thinking  men ; 
but  they  may  prove  a  fatal  poison  if  suffered  to  be 
disseminated  through  the  continent,  unattended  by 
the  strictures  of  an  able  pen,  which  may  serve  as  an 
antidote.  If  France  has  not  declared  war,  she  does 
not  merit  our  alliance;  but  I  think  it  is  more  than 
probable  that  the  sword  has  been  drawn  by  this  time 
in  Europe.  There  is  no  doubt  of  Gen1  Howe's  being 
recalled,  and  that  Clinton  is  to  succeed  him.  The 
present  moment  requires  vigorous  counsels  and  un 
common  management. 
21 


162  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

I  have  many  fears  relative  to  our  prospects  of  the 
ensuing  campaign ;  they  shall  be  expressed  in  a  short 
letter.  My  dearest  friend  adieu. 

Virtue  and  vigorous  counsels  with  policy,  are  more 

wanted  than  ever. 

Your  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

I  fear  the  effects  of  northern  expeditions  and 
projects.  Our  main  army  will  be  emacerated,  and 
nothing  decisive  will  be  done.  Let  us  be  respectable 
in  the  field,  and  have  a  full  representation  of  the 
wisest  patriots. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  27/A  April,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  have  read  with  pleasure  the  report  of  the  commit 
tee  of  Congress,  on  the  subject  of  the  insulting  and 
insidious  overtures  made  by  the  British  ministers,  tho' 
I  think  more  firmness  and  energy  would  have  made 
it  more  republican.  The  pardons  offered  to  the  sub 
jects  of  the  states  who  had  embraced  the  party  of  the 
enemy,  will,  I  am  persuaded,  be  attended  with  extens 
ive  good  consequences.  The  measure  is  dictated  by 
policy,  and  unites  the  advantage  of  being  founded  in 
humanity.  A  few  copies  of  the  handbill  have  been 
sent  to  Governor  Tryon  in  return  for  the  triplicate 
packets  of  the  British  bill  which  he  was  so  obliging  as 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  163 

to  send  to  the  Commander  in  Chief.  It  appears  to  me 
that  this  proceeding  of  Ld  North  will  be  the  signal  for 
France  to  declare  war.  The  reducing  the  commerce 
and  naval  power  of  her  natural  enemy,  increasing  her 
own,  and  humbling  an  inveterate  rival,  are  objects  too 
important  in  a  political  view,  for  her  to  hazard  them 
to  the  wiles  of  negociation  after  they  have  been 
secured  from  the  chance  of  war.  This  apart,  the 
death  of  the  Elector  of  Bavaria,  it  is  generally  thought 
will  embroil  Europe.  And  if  our  men  in  power,  and 
men  of  influence,  will  redouble  their  exertions  instead 
of  being  lulled  into  security,  the  new  and  artful 
attack  of  the  British  minister,  will  be  foiled  and 
expose  him  to  contempt.  He  will  be  obliged  to  with 
draw  his  troops  —  I  mean  as  many  of  them  as  we  suf 
fer  to  escape  —  and  tacitly  to  acknowledge  what  he 
will  be  afterwards  forced  explicitly  to  ratify  —  our 
independence.  At  the  same  time,  if  no  secret  alliance 
has  been  entered  into  on  our  part  with  France,  our 
agents  at  that  court  need  not  represent  it  as  an  impos 
sible  event,  that  a  treaty  should  take  place  between 
Great  Britain  and  America,  from  the  degree  of  affec 
tion  which  may  still  remain  between  the  two  nations 
and  the  propensity  to  a  connexion  which  arises  from 
the  indentity  of  habits  and  language. 

I  have  been  informed  that  the  tone  of  our  embas- 
sadors  was  infinitely  too  modest  to  produce  the  effects 
which  we  had  a  right  to  expect. 

It   gives   me   pleasure   to  find   that    Congress   has 


164  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

directed  General  Gates  to  have  a  conference  with 
Gen1  "Washington  previous  to  his  setting  out  for  his 
northern  command.  A  proper  force  kept  up  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  ]STew  York,  provided  it  can  be  done 
without  prejudice  to  this  army,  may  be  attended  with 
very  important  good  consequences. 

It  is  a  favourite  plan  with  some  men,  to  make  a 
sudden  attempt  in  that  quarter  with  a  part  of  this 
army,  and  change  the  theatre  of  the  war;  but  there 
are  many  irrefragable  arguments  against  the  project. 
Their  plan  is  to  carry  that  city  by  storm ;  but  the 
preliminary  steps  to  be  taken,  and  the  length  of  march 
would  inevitably  betray  the  design.  The  part  of  the 
army  left  here  would  be  attacked  and  dissipated  by 
a  superior  force.  The  British  army  would  be  re 
cruited  from  among  the  numerous  disaffected,  which 
swarm  in  this  state,  and  the  force  before  ISTew  York, 
if  sufficient  to  proceed  by  regular  approaches,  would 
be  obliged  to  raise  the  siege  with  disgrace,  upon  rein 
forcements  being  thrown  in,  which  might  very  well 
be  spared  from  Philadelphia ;  besides,  as  ISTew  York, 
supposing  it  carried,  cannot  be  maintained  while  the 
enemy  have  the  superiority  by  sea,  it  can  by  no  means 
deserve  to  be  made  a  principal  object  of  attention. 
But  if  we  are  sufficiently  strengthened  here  to  act 
offensively,  and  a  respectable  force  is  posted  in  the 
vicinity  of  N".  York,  we  may  hope  for  decisive  suc 
cess,  and  we  avoid  the  risk  of  suffering  the  enemy  to 
establish  themselves,  and  strengthen  their  party  in 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  165 

this  state;  cut  off  the  communication  between  the 
northern  and  southern  states,  and  reduce  the  Congress 
to  the  disgraceful  necessity  of  decamping  a  second 
time.  I  say  nothing  of  the  unavoidable  loss  of  stores, 
whatever  diligence  may  be  used  in  removing  them. 

I  must  ask,  my  dear  father,  a  thousand  pardons  for 
this  ill-digested  and  incoherent  letter.  I  set  out  with 
a  good  intention,  but  from  my  first  beginning  it  'till 
now,  I  have  undergone  perpetual  interruption. 

Cap6  G-ibbes  has  disappointed  me  in  not  purchasing 
the  stuff  for  summer  wear.  I  must  entreat  you  to  let 
James  procure  me  as  much  as  will  make  two  or  three 
changes,  provided  the  extravagance  of  the  price  does 
not  forbid  it. 

Adieu  my  dearest  friend  and  father, 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

I  send  a  letter  which  you  will  be  so  good  as  to 
inclose  by  Mr.  Francis,  to  Co1  Gervaise,  to  be  for 
warded. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  1st  May,  1778. 
I  snatch  a  minute  to  congratulate  my  dear  fatiidr, 
upon  the  important  intelligence  from  France.  As  the 
matter  is  represented  she  seems  to  have  acted  with 
politic  generosity  towards  us,  and  to  have  timed  her 
declaration  in  our  favour  most  admirably  for  her  own 
interests,  and  the  abasement  of  her  ancient  rival.  If 
the  general  languor  can  be  shaken  off,  and  that  this 


166  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

event  instead  of  increasing  our  supineness  stimulates 
us  to  vigorous  exertions,  we  may  close  the  war  witli 
great  eclat,  provided  General  Howe  does  not  receive 
timely  orders  to  collect  his  force  and  secure  a  retreat. 
France  might  give  a  mortal  blow  to  the  English  naval 
force  in  its  present  scattered  state. 

I  have  just  received  your  kind  favour  of  the  28th 
ult°.  I  have  reason  to  hope  that  opportunities  for 
writing  to  my  wife  will  he  more  frequent  and  certain, 
and  that  we  may  soon  find  a  proper  conveyance  for 
herself. 

With  respect  to  the  report  of  the  committee,  I  think 
a  more  spirited  answer  was  required  to  the  arrogance 
and  insolence  of  the  British  minister  in  offering  us 
pardons,  and  a  part  of  our  rights.  I  am  entirely  of 
your  opinion  on  the  subject  of  the  proposed  addition 
to  the  resolutions. 

The  only  reason  that  can  be  assigned  for  Col. 
Hartley's  delay,  is  that  there  are  better  quarters  at 
York  than  at  Valley  Forge.  The  General  probably  is 
ignorant  that  he  has  received  his  order  to  march  from 
Congress. 

General  Mclntosh  desires  me  to  send  you  the 
inclosed  paper,  with  his  compliments. 

Your  letter  to  Bringhurst  went  some  time  since. 
I  received  an  answer  from  him  a  day  or  two  ago,  that 
the  body  of  your  carriage  is  at  the  painter's  in  Phila 
delphia,  and  that  if  I  give  him  a  pass  for  a  gentleman 
who  wants  to  get  a  carriage  in,  that  gentleman  will 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  167 

undertake  to  get  a  pass  for  yours  to  come  out.  I  must 
inquire  who  the  gentleman  is,  and  if  the  matter  can 
be  transacted  with  propriety  it  shall  be  done.  He 
promises  to  finish  the  carriage  out  of  hand,  if  this 
arrangement  can  be  made. 

I  am  hurried  to  close  my  letter,  and  must  bid  adieu 
to  my  dear  father. 

JOHX  LAURENS. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  4th  May,  1778. 

I  thank  you  my  dear  father  for  your  kind  favour  of 
yesterday,  and  again  congratulate  you  upon  the  im 
portant  intelligence  from  France.  It  seems  to  me  to 
have  been  her  interest  to  offer  such  generous  terms  to 
America,  as  to  ensure  her  prompt  acceptance,  and  to 
avoid  every  thing  which  might  give  room  for  delibe 
ration  and  delay.  If  our  embassadors  in  France 
were  plenipotentiaries,  the  ratification  comes  of  course. 
If  they  were  not,  I  think  it  is  as  little  politic  as  gene 
rous  to  refuse  an  alliance  with  France  in  order  to 
accept  one  upon  equal  terms  with  Great  Britain. 

There  is  still  a  prejudice  in  the  minds  of  many 
people  in  favour  of  the  latter,  which  should  be  wisely 
counteracted,  or  that  power  will  gain  by  artful  policy 
what  she  has  lost  in  the  field  of  battle.  The  intelli 
gence  seems  to  diffuse  sincere  joy.  We  only  wait 
for  leave  from  Congress  to  signify  that  of  the  army, 
by  sounds  which  will  reach  the  ears  of  the  enemy. 


168  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN   LAURENS. 

My  wife  writes  that  my  uncle  is  at  Marseilles ;  his 
stay  there  depends  entirely  on  my  aunt.  Harry  at 
Richmond,  and  wrote  letters  which  I  have  never 
received. 

Mrs.  Savage  died  at  Brompton,  three  weeks  before 
the  date  of  the  letter,  which  is  17th  FeV,  1778. 

Lady  Willm  Campbell  had  paid  my  wife  a  visit. 
What  was  the  end  of  that  unexpected  civility,  does 
not  strike  me. 

Your  grand-daughter  and  Mr.  Manning's  family 
were  well,  and  desired  their  love. 

It  has  been  my  ill  fortune  to  write  all  my  letters  for 
some  time  past  in  very  great  haste,  and  this  is  the 
case  at  present,  when  I  would  particularly  have  wished 
to  write  deliberately. 

Your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

P.S.  I  am  desired  to  request  that  you  will  send 
more  blank  forms  of  oaths. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  7th  May,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  have  to  ask  pardon  for  omitting  in  my  last,  to 
thank  you  for  the  striped  dimity,  which  you  were  so 
kind  as  to  send  me.  It  did  not  occur  to  me  'till  it 
was  too  late  to  recall  the  messenger,  and  my  uneasi- 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.          169 

ness  was  the  greater,  as  I  had  heen  frequently  a  delin 
quent  in  this  way. 

Yesterday  we  celebrated  the  new  alliance,  with 
as  much  splendour  as  the  short  notice  would  allow. 
Divine  service  preceded  the  rejoicing.  After  a  pro 
per  pause,  the  several  brigades  marched  by  their  right 
to  their  posts  in  order  of  battle,  and  the  line  was 
formed  with  admirable  rapidity  and  precision.  Three 
salutes  of  artillery,  thirteen  each,  and  three  general 
discharges  of  a  running  fire  by  the  musquetry,  were 
given  in  honour  of  the  king  of  France,  the  friendly 
European  powers,  and  the  United  American  States. 
Loud  huzzas  ! 

The  order  with  which  the  whole  was  conducted, 
the  beautiful  effect  of  the  running  fire,  which  was 
executed  to  perfection,  the  martial  appearance  of  the 
troops,  gave  sensible  pleasure  to  every  one  present. 
The  whole  was  managed  by  signal,  and  the  plan,  as 
formed  by  Baron  de  Steuben,  succeeded  in  every 
particular,  which  is  in  a  great  measure  attributed  to 
his  unwearied  attention,  and  to  the  visible  progress 
which  the  troops  have  already  made,  under  his 
discipline. 

A  cold  collation  was  given  afterwards,  at  which  all 
the  officers  of  the  army,  and  some  ladies  of  the  neigh 
bourhood  were  present.  Triumph  beamed  in  every 
countenance.  The  greatness  of  mind  and  policy  of 
Louis  XVI  were  extold,  and  his  long  life  toasted  with 

as  much  sincerity  as  that  of  the  British  king  used  to 
22 


170  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

be  in  former  times.  The  General  received  such 
proofs  of  the  love  and  attachment  of  his  officers  as 
must  have  given  him  the  most  exquisite  feelings. 

But  amid  all  this  inundation  of  joy,  there  is  a  con 
duct  observed  towards  him  by  certain  great  men 
which,  as  it  is  humiliating,  must  abate  his  happiness. 
I  write  with  all  the  freedom  of  a  person  addressing 
himself  to  his  dearest  friend,  and  with  all  the  uncon- 
straint  of  a  person  delivering  an  unconsequential 
private  opinion.  I  think,  then,  the  Commander  in 
Chief  of  this  army  is  not  sufficiently  informed  of  all 
that  is  known  by  Congress  of  European  affairs.  Is  it 
not  a  galling  circumstance,  for  him  to  collect  the 
most  important  intelligence  piece-meal,  and  as  they 
choose  to  give  it,  from  gentlemen  who  come  from 
York  ?  Apart  the  chagrin  which  he  must  necessarily 
feel  at  such  an  appearance  of  slight,  it  should  be  con 
sidered  that  in  order  to  settle  his  plan  of  operations 
for  the  ensuing  campaign,  he  should  take  into  view 
the  present  state  of  European  affairs,  and  Congress 
should  not  leave  him  in  the  dark. 

If  ever  there  was  a  man  in  the  world  whose  mode 
ration  and  patriotism  fitted  him  for  the  command  of  a 
republican  army,  he  is,  and  he  merits  an  unrestrained 
confidence. 

You  will  receive  copies  of  letters  from  and  to  the 
genera],  respecting  Monsieur  de  ^Teuville.  If  I  recol 
lect  right,  that  gentleman  aims  at  the  rank  of  briga 
dier.  This,  I  can  venture  to  assure  you,  the  general 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  171 

does  not  think  either  politic  or  proper  to  be  granted  to 
him.  I  took  the  liberty  of  mentioning  this,  that  the 
General's  letter  which  is  couched  in  polite  terms, 
might  not  induce  an  opinion  of  his  approving  the 
demands  of  M.  de  la  Neuville.  The  general  thinks 
him  a  man  of  merit  and  liberal  sentiments,  but  that 
he  looks  too  high.  I  take  the  liberty  which  is 
allowed  when  the  restraint  of  officiality  is  laid,  to  say 
many  things  which  cannot  with  propriety  be  said  in 
public  letters.  And  am  with  as  much  respect  for  you 
in  your  public  capacity,  as  love  and  friendship  in  our 

private  relation, 

Your 

JOHN  LAUHENS. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  12th  Mai/,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  felicitate  you  upon  the  declaration  of  war  between 
England  and  France ;  for  though  we  have  no  posi 
tive  intelligence  of  the  event,  its  immediate  and  sure 
precursors  have  taken  place,  from  whence  we  may 
fairly  conclude  that  it  has  followed  in  due  course. 
The  sarcastical  declaration  of  Monsr  de  failles, 
proves  the  contempt  which  the  French  have  for  the 
British  power  in  its  present  dismembered  state,  their 
confidence  in  their  own  strength  seconded  by  that  of 
their  own  allies,  and  is  the  most  humiliating  stroke 
that  the  national  pride  of  Britain  ever  suffered.  If 


172  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

she  is  not  instantly  driven  to  negotiate  a  disgraceful 
peace,  she  must  principally  depend  upon  powerful 
naval  exertions.  Her  superiority  in  this  kind  of  war, 
might  gain  her  great  advantages,  and  in  some  degree 
reestablish  her  affairs,  were  not  American  privateers, 
and  the  rising  Continental  army  in  the  opposite  scale. 
Ld  ISTorth  talks  of  new  levies  for  internal  defence. 
The  idea  of  reinforcements  to  act  offensively  in  Ame 
rica  seems  to  be  dropped.  Indeed,  my  private 
opinion  is,  that  Sr  Wm  Howe  or  Sr  Harry  Clinton 
has  received  orders  to  evacuate  Philadelphia  after 
doing  as  much  mischief  as  possible.  The  great  pre 
parations  which  are  making  for  a  grand  exhibition  of 
pageantry,  if  it  be  true  as  it  is  said,  that  a  new  build 
ing  which  is  now  rising  is  intended  for  a  ceremony 
relative  to  the  order  of  knighthood,  and  every  kind  of 
show  that  is  made  of  a  design  to  remain  in  Philadel 
phia,  rather  confirm  than  shake  my  opinion. 

It  gives  me  concern  that  there  is  no  immediate  pro 
spect  of  closing  the  war  with  brilliancy.  A  successful 
general  action,  or  some  happy  stroke  upon  one  of 
the  important  points  of  which  the  enemy  are  at  pre 
sent  in  possession,  would  be  very  desirable,  as  it 
would  clearly  establish  the  military  reputation  of  our 
country,  render  us  more  independent  of  our  allies, 
raise  the  character  of  our  General,  and  give  all  young 
soldiers  one  more  opportunity  of  distinguishing  them 
selves  in  the  dear  cause  of  their  country. 

I  heard  by  mere  accident  from    General    S'    Clair 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  173 

that  the  legislative  powers  had  ventured  to  alter  the 
constitution  of  S°  Carolina,  that  it  is  now  degenerated 
into  an  aristocracy.  This  has  occasioned  no  less  sur 
prise  than  unhappiness  in  my  mind.  I  should  not 
have  imagined  that  in  a  country  where  the  people  are 
generally  enlightened,  and  of  an  independent  spirit, 
we  should  have  suffered  the  depositaries  of  our  con 
stitution  to  usurp  a  power  which  is  inherent  only  in 
the  people,  and  to  have  corrupted  what  they  were 
delegated  to  preserve.  If  this  passes  with  impunity, 
the  same  men  may  next  vote  themselves  perpetual 
representatives  of  the  people.  A  few  men  of  powerful 
influence  may  next  have  credit  enough  to  take  all 
government  into  their  own  hands.  To  an  oligarchy 
succeeds  a  monarchy,  limited  by  a  few  checks,  which 
may  be  easily  removed  by  an  artful  prince,  and 
make  way  for  despotism.  It  will  be  said  that  the 
confederate  states,  and  the  temper  of  the  Carolinians 
themselves,  would  never  suffer  corruption  to  go 
such  lengths;  but  I  only  observe  that  it  is  of  the 
most  fatal  tendency  to  suffer  fundamental  principles 
to  be  violated,  and  that  the  measures  taken  by  our 
present  representatives  are  subversive  of  liberty.  If 
your  leisure  will  permit,  I  entreat  to  send  me  some 
account  of  these  transactions,  or  perhaps  I  shall  be 
able  to  get  it  from  Mr  Drayton,  who,  I  understand, 
is  on  his  way  to  camp. 

The  general  officers  are  just  now  assembled  to  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance. 


174  CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

The  independent  States  of  America  will  have  the 
first  oath  that  ever  I  took.  As  this  matter  is  intended 
for  the  vulgar,  I  think  it  a  pit}*  that  more  solemnity 
and  awe  is  not  attached  to  the  ceremony. 

My  dearest  friend  and  father  I  tenderly  embrace 

you. 

JOHN  LAUHENS. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  21th  May,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  was  obliged  to  break  off  abruptly  in  my  last  letter 
and  send  it  unfinished.  To  resume  the  thread  of 
narration  will  be  hardly  possible  ;  indeed  it  would  not 
be  worth  troubling  you  with,  as  you  must  have  heard 
before  this  time  of  the  principal  circumstances  of  our 
retreat,  and  the  failure  of  the  British  disposition. 
Generals  Clinton  and  Howe  were  both  out  with  the 
whole  army,  deducting  the  necessary  guards  for  the 
city.  One  of  the  columns  executed  a  march  of  35 
miles  which  proved  fatal  to  several  of  their  plethoric 
soldiers. 

The  Marquis  made  a  brilliant  retreat,  and  left  the 
surrounding  enemy  to  return  to  the  city  with  precipi 
tation.  The  firing  of  our  alarm  guns  at  camp,  the 
crossing  a  few  troops  at  Sullivan's  bridge,  and  the 
report  of  a  great  number,  added  to  the  good  order  in 
which  the  detachment  retired,  saved  the  flower  of  our 
army.  We  have  since  seen  a  Philadelphia  Gazette  in 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.          175 

which  our  detachment  is  called  a  large  body  of  the 
rebels,  their  number  covered  under  the  appellation  of 
a  detachment.  The  Marquis  is  said  to  have  retreated 
in  the  greatest  confusion,  and  the  party  that  crossed 
the  Schuylkil  here  are  said  to  have  recrossed  panic 
struck,  and  to  have  taken  up  the  bridge  after  them. 
In  the  same  Gazette  there  is  a  pompous  description  of 
the  medley  of  entertainments  which  the  city  had  given 
in  testimony  of  their  affection  for  General  Howe ;  they 
call  it  a  mischianza  (pronounce  miskiansa)  which 
is  an  Italian  word  signifying  a  medley. 

The  most  recent  intelligence  from  Philadelphia  is, 
that  the  troops  drew  yesterday  three  days  provision 
and  had  their  canteens  filled  with  rum,  that  the 
women  and  children  had  embarked,  some  of  the  sick 
had  been  removed  from  the  hospital  and  bettering 
house,  the  spare  bedding  and  hospital  utensils  had 
been  shipped,  boxes  of  arms  numbered  were  remov 
ing  from  the  arsenal  to  the  vessels.  Coffin  and  An 
derson,  a  capital  Tory  house,  were  packing  up  their 
merchandise. 

The  number  of  transports  amounted  to  180  vessels, 
averaging  250  tons  each.  This  does  not  appear 
adequate  to  the  number  of  troops,  &ca.,  and  makes 
us  think  that  the  enemy  will  retreat  through  the 
Jerseys,  after  embarking  their  heavy  cannon  and 
baggage,  the  horses  belonging  to  them,  their  invalids 
and  their  new  levies,  whose  desertion  they  have  good 
reason  to  dread. 


176  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

We  learn  farther,  that  notice  was  given  on  Saturday 
to  the  officers  of  police,  that  the  army  was  ahout 
to  remove,  and  that  vessels  were  prepared  for  such 
families  as  should  choose  to  quit  the  city — that  there 
was  a  general  despair  among  the  Tory  inhabitants  — 
that  the  enemy  were  still  at  work  on  their  new 
redoubts. 

On  Sunday  the  command  devolved  to  General 
Clinton.  Gen1  Howe  took  leave  of  the  city  and  dined 
with  his  brother  on  board  of  the  Eagle. 

The  inhabitants  anxious  to  know  whether  their 
persons  and  property  will  be  protected  from  the  rage 
of  the  American  soldiery  —  if  they  could  be  sure  of 
protection,  it  is  thought  that  much  valuable  merchan 
dise  would  be  retained  in  the  city,  which  otherwise 
will  be  sent  away. 

The  greatest  part  of  this  intelligence  was  given  by 
a  Mr.  Combes,  father  of  the  clergyman  —  the  old 
gentleman  is  come  out  to  make  his  peace  and  take 
the  oath  —  he  will  be  sent  back  to  town,  with  conso 
lation  for  repentant  sinners.  Deserters,  townsmen, 
women  of  different  qualities,  spies,  confirm  the  sub 
stance  of  these  accounts.  There  has  been  such 
diligence  used  in  shipping,  that  some  light  carts 
have  been  drawn  by  soldiers.  Every  kind  of  carriage 
from  waggons  to  wheelbarrows,  have  been  inces 
santly  rolling  between  the  houses  and  water  side  for 
some  days  past. 

It  is  not  certainly  known  whether  they  will  embark 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.          177 

or  march  through  the  Jerseys ;  by  the  latter  method 
of  retiring  they  would  avoid  the  dangers  of  the  sea 
and  a  French  fleet,  economize  provision  and  forage, 
be  sure  of  arriving  at  New  York  at  a  given  time ;  by 
the  former  they  would  be  secure  from  desertion, 
and  harrassing  from  such  light  troops  as  might  be 
detached  after  them  on  their  march ;  but  the  matter 
is  put  out  of  doubt,  if  what  we  have  just  heard  from 
Col.  Shreve,  commandant  in  Jersey,  be  true,  that 
several  troops  of  the  enemy's  horse  have  embarked. 
This  being  the  case,  they  certainly  mean  to  go  by  sea, 
as  every  dragoon  that  can  be  mustered  would  be 
wanted  in  their  march  through  the  Jerseys. 

Col.  Shreve  adds  that  the  refugees  arc  daily  desert 
ing  from  Billingsport,  and  surrendering  themselves  to 
the  civil  power,  that  several  companies  of  artillery 
have  embarked. 

The  intelligence  from  New  York  is  that  the  enemy 
have  abandoned  Fort  Washington  and  its  depend 
encies.  Whether  their  design  is  to  concenter  their 
force  at  New  York,  and  make  a  stand  there,  or  only 
rendezvous  there  to  proceed  elsewhere,  or  divide  the 
force  that  they  have  at  Philadelphia,  part  to  go  to 
reinforce  New  York,  and  part  for  the  defence  of 
their  AV.  India  islands,  cannot  be  determined.  It  is 
certain  that  a  notion  prevails  among  the  soldiery  that 
many  of  them  are  going  to  the  West  Indies,  and  that 
immense  desertion  would  take  place  if  any  opportu 
nity  were  given. 

23 


178  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

God  bless  yon,  my  dear  father;   I  salute  you  with 

my  tenderest  love. 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 

President  of  Congress,  York. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  9th  June,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

The  moment  Mr  Boudinot  returned  from  German 
Town  where  he  had  a  conference  with  Mr  Loring, 
British  comm7  of  prisoners,  upon  the  subject  of  an 
exchange.  He  brings  us  intelligence  that  the  com 
missioners  appointed  by  act  of  Parliament  to  divide 
us  by  governor's  places,  &ca.,  skilfully  dealt,  are  ar 
rived  ;  that  they  are,  as  we  had  heard  Ld  Carlisle, 
Gov.  Johnston,  and  Mr  Eden;  that  Ld  Cornwallis 
is  come  with  them.  A  spy  of  ours  who  left  the  city 
this  morning  says,  that  they  landed  at  2  o'clock  yes 
terday  afternoon,  and  that  they  came  up  the  river  in 
barges  ;  that  five  or  six  hundred  sailors  had  come  up 
to  the  city  in  boats,  and  were  assembled  at  the  proper 
place  for  conducting  the  passage  of  the  troops;  that 
no  ships  remained  near  the  town  except  the  Vigilant 
and  Richmond,  who  seem  destined  to  cover  the  cross 
ing,  and  that  all  the  enemy's  sick  are  removed. 

Some  people  are  of  opinion  that  the  arrival  of  the 
commissioners  at  Philadelphia  is  a  proof  that  war  is 
not  yet  declared  between  England  and  France ;  the 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.          179 

former  determining  to  try  what  may  be  done  with 
respect  to  America,  by  the  means  of  negotiation, 
and  preferring  in  the  mean  time  a  suffering  of  incon 
veniences  and  insults,  to  engage  at  once  in  so  unequal 
a  contest ;  and  that  the  commissioners  have  ventured 
to  land  in  Philadelphia  from  a  persuasion  that  a 
declaration  of  war  will  not  originate  with  France. 

It  is  certain  that  the  commissioners  must  know 
whether  war  is  declared,  and  it  appears  to  me  almost 
certain  that  they  would  not  come  to  Philadelphia  if 
it  were.  At  all  events  I  imagine  the  arrival  of  the 
commissioners  will  delay  the  final  evacuation  of  the 
city  'till  a  council  of  war  can  be  held,  and  perhaps 
some  message  sent  to  Congress.  It  would  be  an 
awkward  appearance  for  them  to  arrive  at  Philadel 
phia  with  a  view  of  proposing  terms  of  conciliation, 
and  to  change  their  ground  without  announcing  them 
selves.  But  it  wd  be  full  as  awkward  and  disgrace 
ful  for  them  to  announce  themselves  and  disappear 
before  an  answer  from  Congress  could  be  given. 
All  which  inclines  me  to  believe  that  war  was  not 
declared  at  the  time  they  left  England,  and  that  their 
stay  will  be  deferred  by  their  court  as  long  as  pos 
sible.  A  deserter  who  is  just  arrived,  says  that  none 
but  the  light  troops  remained  in  Philadelphia.  Or 
ders  had  been  given  for  their  preparing  every  thing 
for  moving,  but  the  arrival  of  the  commissioners  had 
occasioned  a  countermand. 

Our  treaty  with  France  is  known ;  what  the  com- 


180  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

uiissioners  can  hope  from  their  act  of  Parliament, 
which  is  an  insult  to  our  honour  and  understanding, 
I  cannot  conceive.  Commissary  Loring  told  Mr  Bou- 
dinot  with  a  grave  face,  that  a  fleet  of  forty  ships  had 
sailed  from  the  British  coast  and  struck  such  an  alarm 
in  the  minds  of  the  French  king  and  his  ministers  as 
occasioned  them  to  desire  the  immediate  departure  of 
Dr.  Franklin,  &ca. 

This  express  was  ordered  immediately  on  Mr. 
Boudinot's  return,  that  Congress  may  he  apprised, 
and  have  time  to  deliberate  even  before  the  com 
missioners  announce  themselves.  I  have  written  in 
the  greatest  hurry,  and  thrown  a  chaos  of  words 
together. 

I  have  barely  time  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
your  letter  of  the  5th.  Mr.  Conway's  conduct  irritates 
but  does  not  surprise  me.  The  truth  of  the  matter 
with  respect  to  his  resignation  is,  that  he  expected  to 
have  been  solicited  to  remain  in  the  service,  and  to 
have  made  a  great  bustle,  and  increased  his  import 
ance. — As  for  fighting,  I  know  by  what  I  saw  at 
German  Town,  that  his  stomach  is  not  so  keen  set 
for  it  as  he  pretends ;  — but  his  friends,  Gates  and  Mif- 
flin,  sacrificed  him  at  a  time  when  he  least  expected 
it.  However,  he  has  fairly  undone  himself,  and  will 
be  treated  with  that  contempt  which  he  deserves. 
I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  communicating  this  matter 
to  the  general. 

I  must  beg  the  favour  of  you  to  send  by  the  earliest 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.          181 

opportunity,  a  copy  of  the  last  resolves  of  Congress 
relative  to  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  the  21st  ult°. 
It  has  been  mislaid  here,  and  the  person  who  had  the 
care  of  it  wishes  to  avoid  the  wound  to  his  sensibility 
which  wd  arise  from  having  the  matter  applied  for 
officially  with  an  explanation. 

God  preserve  you,  my  dear  father. 

JOHN  LAURENS. 
The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 

President  of  Congress,  York. 

(Private).      • 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  9th  June,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father  : 

I  have  received  your  kind  favour  of  the  7th  inst. 
accompanied  by  letters  from  Harry,  and  one  from 
my  wife.  The  former  I  send  for  your  perusal ;  the 
latter  contained  nothing  new. 

Your  letter  to  the  general,  and  the  copy  of  that  to 
the  commissioners  Howe  and  Clinton,  were  dated 
May ;  but  the  mistake  I  apprehend  in  the  original  is 
of  no  consequence.  I  cannot  forbear  expressing  my 
joy  that  Congress  has  replied  with  so  much  dignity 
to  the  iirst  overtures  made  to  them.  If  they  pursue 
the  conduct  which  they  have  marked  out  to  them 
selves  in  their  letter,  they  will  act  with  propriety. 

The  insolence  and  infatuation  of  the  British  minis 
ter  in  sending  commissioners  to  treat  with  America, 


182  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

under  the  act  of  Parliament  which  he  pretends  to  call 
conciliatory,  are  without  parallel. 

I  hope  Congress  will  not  even  suffer  the  secretary 
of  the  commission  to  wait  upon  them,  nor  do  any 
thing  that  looks  like  listening  to  their  proposals. 
Mr  Boudinot,  who  returned  this  evening  from  con 
ference  with  the  British  commissary  of  prisoners, 
informs  us  that  the  preparations  for  evacuating  still 
continue,  and  that  it  is  impossible  for  the  enemy  to 
remain  much  longer.  He  says  he  has  reason  to  think 
that  they  will  not  march  through  the  Jerseys,  but  pro 
ceed  to  a  convenient  place  down  the  Delaware  on  the 
Jersey  side,  and  there  embark.  This  opinion  has 
been  suggested  before,  and  seems  to  be  favoured  by 
a  contradiction  of  a  report  which  prevailed  some  time 
ago  of  the  enemy's  collecting  boats  in  Princes  bay. 

To-morrow  the  army  will  move  to  a  camp  about  a 
mile  in  front  of  their  present  position.  The  unwhole 
some  exhalations  from  the  ground  which  we  occupy 
has  made  this  measure  necessary.  We  shall  be  at 
hand  to  take  possession  of  our  field  of  battle,  in  case 
of  any  forward  move  on  the  part  of  the  enemy.  And 
while  we  are  condemned  to  inactivity,  we  shall  not 
swallow  the  effluvia  arising  from  a  deposit  of  various 
carcases  and  filth  accumulated  during  six  months. 

I  am  much  concerned  that  you  are  afflicted  with 
any  bodily  pain.  You  do  not  mention  what  it  is ;  I 
apprehend  a  return  of  your  gout.  Surely  if  ever  a 
citizen  deserved  well  of  his  country,  you  do ;  but  your 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  183 

continued  sacrifice  of  yourself  will  find  its  reward  in 
the  triumph  of  liberty. 

God  grant  that  your  health  of  body  may  speedily 
be  restored,  and  equal  your  health  of  mind. 
Your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

Doctor  Ferguson,  secy  to  the  commission,  was  tutor 
to  Ld  Chesterfield  at  Geneva,  where  I  became  ac 
quainted  with  him.  He  is  a  man  known  in  the 
literary  world,  and  whose  profound  knowledge  makes 
him  very  respectable. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 

President  of  Congress,  York. 
(Private). 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  llth  June,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  enclose  you  a  packet  which  I  received  from 
Philadelphia  yesterday.  You  will  be  so  good  as  to 
forward  those  letters  which  Mr.  Manning  commits 
to  my  care.  The  two  letters  which  I  have  kept  out 
of  the  bundle  are  one  from  Mr.  Laurens,  containing 
nothing  new,  and  one  for  Anthony  Butler,  Esq.,  D. 
Q.  M.  G.,  which  Gov.  Johnston  desires  me  to  take 
charge  of. 

The  commissioners  ventured  out  yesterday  as  far 
as  G  erman  Town  with  an  escort  of  light  troops,  which 


184  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

with  the  number  that  have  crossed  into  the  Jerseys, 
left  only  800  men  in  the  city  according  to  the  account 
of  a  very  intelligent  deserter.  Every  account  con- 
iirms  the  opinion  that  Sr  H.  Clinton  is  throwing 
his  men  over  the  Delaware  by  degrees,  and  that  the 
remainder  arc  constantly  under  marching  orders. 

The  grenadiers  have  crossed  the  river,  and  the 
Anspachers  have  embarked. 

The  packet  addressed  to  yourself  and  Congress,  you 
will  observe  is  sealed  with  the  fond  picture  of  a 
mother  caressing  her  children.  I  am  of  opinion  that 
the  commissioners  hope  to  do  more  by  addressing 
themselves  to  individuals  than  public  bodies.  But 
what  prospect  can  they  have  of  succeeding  in  the 
least  of  their  views.  They  must,  I  think,  retire  dis 
gracefully,  for  I  am  persuaded  that  Congress  will  not 
lose  sight  of  those  well  chosen  land-marks  which  they 
declare  they  mean  to  steer  by.  The  honour  and  inter 
est  of  the  nation,  and  the  sacred  regard  which  is  due 
to  treaties,  unite  to  make  us  reject  their  overtures. 
From  their  conduct,  one  would  think  that  they  have 
as  little  opinion  of  our  virtue  and  understanding,  as 
they  formerly  had  of  our  courage.  It  is  our  duty 
to  convince  them  how  much  we  have  been  calum 
niated  in  every  respect,  and  to  render  their  superior 
subtilty  in  negociations  of  as  little  avail  as  their 
greater  experience  in  the  art  of  war.  I  begin  to 
regard  Johnston  as  an  apostate  to  the  cause  of  liberty, 
and  to  place  him  among  the  number  of  those  whose 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.          185 

secret  wisli  is  rather  a  change  of  men  than  measures. 
The  nominating  him  as  a  commissioner,  and  vesting 
him  and  his  colleagues  with  a  power  of  making  go 
vernors,  are  strokes  of  artful  policy,  against  which 
WTC  cannot  be  too  much  on  our  guard.  His  reputation 
as  a  friend  to  America,  his  patriotic  speeches  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  will  be  made  the  themes  of 
many  a  letter  and  discourse  for  seducing  incautious 
citizens. 

God  preserve  you,  my  dear  father. 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

The  Ilonble  Henry  Laurcns,  Esqr., 

President  of  Congress,  York. 
(Private). 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  14/A  June,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  have  barely  a  moment  to  thank  you  for  your  kind 
favour  of  the  11th. 

Congress,  I  am  persuaded,  will  act  with  the  dignity 
and  virtue  which  ought  to  characterize  republicans, 
in  their  answers  to  the  British  commissioners.  The 
inquiry  into  the  conduct  of  the  late  quarter  masters, 
must  give  pleasure  to  every  man  who  wishes  to  see 
the  betrayers  of  public  trusts  brought  to  condign 
punishment. 


186          CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

A  party  of  the  enemy  were  out  yesterday,  and  in 
returning  left  a  Mr  "Welford  formerly  surgeon  in 
their  service.  This  gentleman  made  himself  disa 
greeable  to  the  British  officers,  by  his  humanity  to 
our  wounded,  and  was  obliged  to  resign.  He  has 
taken  an  opportunity  of  becoming  a  willing  prisoner 
to  a  people  whose  sentiments  are  congenial  to  his 
own.  This,  I  suppose  in  delicacy  to  him,  must  be 
kept  a  secret.  Cap*.  McLane,  an  active,  enterprising 
officer,  who  is  constantly  near  the  enemy's  lines,  sent 
him  as  a  prisoner,  and  he  must  be  announced  as 
such.  He  quartered  with  General  Lee  last  night, 
so  that  I  had  no  opportunity  of  speaking  to  him ;  it  is 
probable  he  may  furnish  us  with  a  great  deal  of  good 
intelligence. 

I  intend  to  write  to  you  upon  the  subject  of  reform 
ing  our  regiments,  as  the  French  call  it.  The  weak, 
pitiful  state  of  a  great  many  of  them,  the  little  pro 
spect  of  having  them  completed,  the  vast  good  that 
would  result  from  purging  the  army  of  a  number  of 
officers,  who  besides  are  not  unwilling  to  quit  the 
service;  in  a  word,  the  facility  of  bringing  about  a 
change  which  wd  be  attended  with  more  advantages 
than  I  have  time  to  enumerate  and  develope,  invites 
us  irresistably  to  it. 

I  pray  God  to  continue  his  blessings  to  you. 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

The  Baron  de  Steuben  desires  to  be  remembered 
to  you.  Some  jealousies  against  him  have  occasioned 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN   LAURENS.          187 

Mm  great  trouble,  and  interrupted  his  progress  in  the 
military  instruction. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esq1., 

York  Town. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  15th  June,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father  : 

The  world  looks  with  anxious  expectation  for  the 
answer  of  Congress  to  the  British  commissioners. 
A  paper  was  said  to  have  been  pasted  up  in  camp, 
which  contained  the  terms  that  are  offered  on  their 
part.  The  general  has  given  orders  to  have  the 
matter  immediately  traced.  Low  artifices  of  this 
kind  discover  feeble  hopes  of  succeeding  in  a  more 
regular  and  open  way. 

Doctor  "Welford  dined  with  us  yesterday,  but  I  had 
no  opportunity  of  conversing  with  him  but  in  a  pro 
miscuous  way.  He  confirms  our  opinion  of  the  ene 
my's  intention  to  pass  through  the  Jerseys ;  says  that 
they  have  destroyed  a  vast  number  of  blankets,  etc., 
that  they  have  strengthened  their  cavalry  by  mounting 
many  of  their  light  infantry,  or  at  least  providing 
horses,  on  which  they  are  to  be  mounted  occasionally. 
By  this  means  they  will  have,  he  thinks,  2,500  horse 
men  ;  that  General  Grant  has  escaped  a  court  martial 
for  his  conduct  on  the  affair  of  Marquis  de  Lafayette, 
by  his  powerful  interest,  but  that  he  is  much  blamed 


188  CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS. 

and  abused  in  circles  of  officers.  The  doctor  contra 
dicts  the  report  of  Gov.  Johnston's  having  been 
mobbed.  He  says,  on  the  contrary,  he  is  more  re 
spected  than  either  of  his  colleagues,  being  regarded 
as  the  only  proper  person  to  gain  the  confidence 
of  America,  and  succeed  in  the  important  business 
which  they  have  in  view. 

Gov.  Johnston,  it  is  said,  accuses  Howe  of  having 
acted  the  part  both  of  a  villain  and  a  fool ;  — the  latter, 
in  his  military  operations,  the  former  in  wanton  and 
unauthorized  destruction  of  private  property.1 

I  hope  the  answer  of  Congress  will  arrive  to-day, 
that  it  will  be  consistent  with  the  reply  already  made 
to  Gen1  Clinton,  &c.,  and  if  possible  be  calculated  to 
give  them  less  hopes. 

The  Baron  de  Steuben  has  received  a  letter  from 
Mr  de  Beaumarchais,  which  informs  him  that  war  is 
rekindled  between  the  Russians  and  Turks  —  that 
the  king  of  Prussia  is  in  Bohemia,  at  the  head  of 
00,000  men,  where  he  has  already  seized  a  fortified 
castle  and  two  regiments,  to  show  that  he  is  deter 
mined  to  have  satisfaction  for  the  dismemberment  of 
the  electorate  of  Bavaria. 

Gen1  Reed  has  some  very  interesting  gazettes,  and 
a  number  or  two  of  the  Parliamentary  Register,  parts 
of  which  ought  to  be  made  public,  without  delay, 
in  the  course  of  calling  for  authentic  papers,  and 


Dr.  Welford  says  so. 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  189 

letters  relative  to  American  transactions.  The  mi 
nority  lias  made  some  discoveries,  which  if  they  were 
generally  known  here,  would  prove  an  excellent  anti 
dote  to  the  deceitful  arts  which  the  commissioners 
are  now  practising.  A  letter  from  Lord  Howe  and 
his  brother,  in  Novem.,  1776  (at  a  time  when  they 
thought  nothing  could  turn  the  current  of  success 
from  them),  inclosed  their  proclamation  offering  a 
general  pardon  to  the  Americans.  But  they  remark 
to  the  ministry  that  it  will  be  proper  to  make  a  few 
examples,  and  upon  the  whole  plainly  indicate  their 
intention  to  make  as  many  as  shall  be  found  conve 
nient,  notwithstanding  their  promises. 

You  will  receive  by  this  courier  an  application  from 
the  captain  of  the  General's  guard.  He  has  had  the 
mortification  of  seeing  himself  outstripped  by  a  vast 
number  of  his  juniors  who  had  no  greater  merit  than 
himself.  He  has  always  done  his  duty  in  his  station, 
and  from  what  I  saw  of  his  behaviour  at  Barren  Hill, 
wants  only  an  opportunity  to  establish  his  character 
as  an  officer  of  bravery  and  steadiness,  in  action ;  and 
I  really  think  he  is  entitled  to  a  majority,  at  least  to 
a  brevet  for  one. 

Adieu,  my  dear  father ;  we  pass  a  most  tiresome  time 
of  inactivity  and  suspense  in  camp.  I  suppose  you 
sympathize  with  us  in  the  latter.  I  omitted  to  inform 
you  above  that  Doctor  Welford  says  the  people  in 
town  have  no  other  than  salt  provisions.  Even  that 
is  brought  to  them  from  their  vessels.  As  Mr  "W. 


1.90  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

ought  to  pass  for  a  prisoner  of  war,  I  do  not  mention 
his  name  as  author  of  any  intelligence,  but  in  con 
fidence  to  you,  not  that  I  think  his  history  will 
be  kept  secret,  but  because  I  would  not  be  the  occa 
sion  of  discovering  it.  As  this  courier  was  setting 
out  hastily  on  a  case  of  life  and  death,  I  did  not  intend 
to  have  said  any  thing  on  the  subject  of  a  reform,  but 
as  he  delays  I  will  venture  to  oifer  a  few  arguments 
in  favour  of  it.  Our  regiments,  as  you  well  know, 
are  many  of  them  in  a  very  weak  state,  and  there  is 
no  kind  of  parity  between  them,  which  is  the  occasion 
of  great  trouble  and  confusion  in  encamping,  march 
ing,  the  detail  for  guards  and  detachments,  &ca. 
To  remedy  these  inconveniences,  the  General  has 
issued  an  order  to  each  brigadier  to  form  his  brigade 
into  batallions  of  not  less  than  80  files,  nor  more  than 
111 ;  by  which  means  they  will  be  sufiiciently  equal 
ized  to  admit  of  their  being  regarded  as  a  common 
measure  for  the  army,  and  to  facilitate  the  service. 
But  as  this  is  only  a  temporary  arrangement,  the 
field  officers  who  are  appointed  by  seniority  to  the 
command  of  these  batallious,  will  not  pay  that  atten 
tion  to  the  welfare  and  discipline  of  the  men  under 
their  command,  which  they  would  do  in  the  case  of 
their  own  soldiers ;  and,  from  an  idea  that  there  is  no 
permanent  relation  between  them,  will  not  have  that 
affection  for  them  which  the  good  of  the  service 
requires. 

Had  we  any  prospect  that  the  States  would  furnish 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  191 

their  due  quotas  for  completing  their  respective  ba- 
tal lions,  a  reduction  of  regiments  would  be  unneces 
sary  ;  but  as  you  and  I  very  well  know  we  have  no 
right  to  expect  them  to  do  their  duty  in  this  respect. 

My  letter  is  called  for,  and  I  must  abruptly  bid 
adieu. 

JOHN  LAURENS. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  16/A  June,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

The  Chevalier  de  Cambray  informs  me  that  he  sets 
out  for  York ;  I  must  write  precipitately  to  have  my 
letter  conveyed  by  him. 

The  state  of  intelligence  yesterday  was  as  follows : 
That  the  baggage  of  the  commissioners  was  packed 
up,  their  linnen  ordered  from  the  washerwomen 
finished  or  unfinished ;  the  troops  in  town  were  the 
third  brigade  which  is  composed  of  the  Highlanders 
and  two  British  regiments,  a  few  Hessians,  the  grena 
diers  and  light  infantry,  and  the  cavalry;  all  the 
vessels  on  the  stocks  had  been  burnt;  some  few 
houses  had  been  maliciously  fired  at  the  same  time ; 
the  park  of  artillery  was  reduced  to  five  field  pieces 
and  two  howitzers;  the  horse  tenders  were  at  the 
wharves  with  slings,  &ca.,  in  readiness;  the  Vigilant 
and  a  few  row  galleys  lay  at  the  upper  end  of  the 
town  to  cover  the  passage  of  the  troops ;  the  commis 
sary  of  the  light  horse  had  put  all  his  baggage  in  his 


192  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

waggon ;  orders  had  been  given  to  the  3d  brigade  to  be 
in  readiness  for  marching  this  morning  at  2  o'clock. 
This  intelligence  was  given  by  a  very  faithful  fellow 
whose  mother  washed  for  the  commissioners,  and 
who  on  former  occasions  has  given  us  accurate  and 
useful  intelligence.  This  day,  three  deserters,  one 
of  them  from  the  corps  of  grenadiers,  confirmed  many 
of  the  foregoing  circumstances.  A  letter  from  Cap* 
McLane,  dated  at  noon,  informs  me  that  all  the 
enemy's  park  had  crossed  the  river ;  that  the  High 
landers  were  then  crossing ;  that  he  had  marched 
towards  the  enemy's  redoubts,  caused  several  of  them 
to  be  manned,  and  exchanged  a  few  shot  with  a 
party  that  advanced  in  front  of  them.  It  is  his 
opinion  as  well  as  that  of  others,  that  the  city  will  be 
completely  evacuated  to-morrow. 

The  prevailing  opinion  is,  that  one  division  of  the 
army  will  march  by  way  of  Trenton,  and  another  by 
a  lower  road,  in  marching  through  the  Jersies. 

An  account  dated  yesterday  from  the  city  says  that 
the  enemy  have  taken  all  the  horses  they  could  pos 
sibly  collect;  logs,  planks,  blocks,  £c.,  have  been 
swept  to  form  such  magazines  as  they  probably  may 
want  in  the  West  Indies. 

My  dearest  friend,  you  will  excuse  this  letter  which 
has  been  written  as  fast  as  ever  my  hand  could 
conduct  my  pen,  and  believe  me  ever  your  most 
affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  193 

Inclosed  is  a  letter  which  Mr  Morris  desires  may 
be  forwarded  to  its  address. 

Mr  De  Cottineau  has  presented  the  General  with 
a  very  elegant  plumage  set  in  gold,  with  this  cele 
brated  address  of  Henry  the  4th  of  France  to  his 
soldiers  engraved  on  it : 

Ne  perdez  pas  de  vue  mon  Panache  blanc ;  vous  le 
trouverez  toujours  au  Chemin  de  1'honeur  et  de  la 
victoire. 

Don't  lose  sight  of  my  white  plumage,  you  will  ever 
find  it  in  the  road  which  leads  to  honour  and  victory. 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  ENGLISH  TOWN,  3Qth  June,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  was  exceedingly  chagrined  that  public  business 
prevented  my  writing  to  you  from  the  field  of  battle, 
when  the  General  sent  his  dispatches  to  Congress. 
The  delay,  however,  will  be  attended  with  this  advan 
tage,  that  I  shall  be  better  able  to  give  you  an  account 
of  the  enemy's  loss ;  tho'  I  must  now  content  myself 
with  a  very  succinct  relation  of  this  affair.  The 
situation  of  the  two  armies  on  Sunday  was  as  follows  : 
Gen1  Washington,  with  the  main  body  of  our  army, 
was  at  4  miles  distance  from  English  Town.  Gen1 
Lee,  with  a  chosen  advanced  corps,  was  at  that  town. 
The  enemy  were  retreating  down  the  road  which 
leads  to  Middle  Town ;  their  flying  army  composed 
25 


194  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

(as  it  was  said),  of  2  batallions  of  British  grenadiers, 
1  Hessian  grendrs,  1  batallion  of  light  infantry,  1  regi 
ment  of  guards,  2  brigades  of  foot,  1  reg*  of  dragoons 
and  a  number  of  mounted  and  dismounted  Jagers. 
The  enemy's  rear  was  preparing  to  leave  Monmouth 
village,  which  is  6  miles  from  this  place,  when  our 
advanced  corps  was  marching  towards  them.  The 
militia  of  the  country  kept  up  a  random  running  fire 
with  the  Hessian  Jagers ;  no  mischief  was  done  on 
either  side.  I  was  with  a  small  party  of  horse,  recon- 
noitering  the  enemy,  in  an  open  space  before  Mon 
mouth,  when  I  perceived  two  parties  of  the  enemy 
advancing  by  files  in  the  woods  on  our  right  and  left, 
with  a  view,  as  I  imagined,  of  enveloping  our  small 
party,  or  preparing  a  way  for  a  skirmish  of  their  horse. 
I  immediately  wrote  an  account  of  what  I  had  seen  to 
the  General,  and  expressed  my  anxiety  on  account  of 
the  languid  appearance  of  the  Continental  troops 
under  Gen1  Lee. 

Some  person  in  the  mean  time  reported  to  Gen1 
Lee  that  the  enemy  were  advancing  upon  us  in  two 
columns,  and  I  was  informed  that  he  had,  in  conse 
quence,  ordered  Varnum's  brigade,  which  was  in  front, 
to  repass  a  bridge  which  it  had  passed.  I  went  my 
self,  and  assured  him  of  the  real  state  of  the  case ;  his 
reply  to  me  was,  that  his  accounts  had  been  so  con 
tradictory,  that  he  was  utterly  at  a  loss  what  part  to 
take.  I  repeated  my  account  to  him  in  positive  dis 
tinct  terms,  and  returned  to  make  farther  discoveries. 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN   LAURENS.  195 

I  found  that  the  two  parties  had  been  withdrawn 
from  the  wood,  and  that  the  enemy  were  preparing 
to  leave  Monmouth.  I  wrote  a  second  time  to  Gen1 
Washington.  Gen1  Lee  at  length  gave  orders  to 
advance.  The  enemy  were  forming  themselves  on 
the  Middle  Town  road,  with  their  light  infantry  in 
front,  and  cavalry  on  the  left  flank,  while  a  scattering, 
distant  fire  was  commenced  between  our  flanking 
parties  and  theirs.  I  was  impatient  and  uneasy  at 
seeing  that  no  disposition  was  made,  and  endeavoured 
to  find  out  Gen1  Lee  to  inform  him  of  what  was  doing, 
and  know  what  was  his  disposition.  He  told  me  that 
he  was  going  to  order  some  troops  to  march  below 
the  enemy  and  cut  oft'  their  retreat.  Two  pieces  of 
artillery  were  posted  on  our  right  without  a  single 
foot  soldier  to  support  them.  Our  men  were  formed 
piecemeal  in  front  of  the  enemy,  and  there  appeared 
to  be  no  general  plan  or  disposition  calculated  on  that 
of  the  enemy ;  the  nature  of  the  ground,  or  any  of  the 
other  principles  which  generally  govern  in  these  cases. 
The  enemy  began  a  cannonade  from  two  parts  of 
their  line ;  their  whole  body  of  horse  made  a  furious 
charge  upon  a  small  party  of  our  cavalry  and  dissi 
pated  them,  and  drove  them  till  the  appearance  of 
our  infantry,  and  a  judicious  discharge  or  two  of 
artillery  made  them  retire  precipitately.  Three  regi 
ments  of  ours  that  had  advanced  in  a  plain  open 
country  towards  the  enemy's  left  flank,  were  ordered 
by  Gen1  Lee  to  retire  and  occupy  the  village  of  Mon- 


196  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

mouth.  They  were  no  sooner  formed  there,  than 
they  were  ordered  to  quit  that  post  and  gain  the 
woods.  One  order  succeeded  another  with  a  rapidity 
and  indecision  calculated  to  ruin  us.  The  enemy 
had  changed  their  front  and  were  advancing  in  full 
march  towards  us ;  our  men  were  fatigued  with  the 
excessive  heat.  The  artillery  horses  were  not  in 
condition  to  make  a  hrisk  retreat.  A  new  position 
was  ordered,  but  not  generally  communicated,  for 
part  of  the  troops  were  forming  on  the  right  of  the 
ground,  while  others  were  marching  away,  and  all 
the  artillery  driving  off.  The  enemy,  after  a  short 
halt,  resumed  their  pursuit ;  no  cannon  was  left  to 
check  their  progress.  A  regiment  was  ordered  to 
form  behind  a  fence,  and  as  speedily  commanded  to 
retire.  All  this  disgraceful  retreating,  passed  without 
the  firing  of  a  musket,  over  ground  which  might  have 
been  disputed  inch  by  inch.  We  passed  a  defile  and 
arrived  at  an  eminence  beyond,  which  was  defended 
on  one  hand  by  an  impracticable  fen,  on  the  other  by 
thick  woods  where  our  men  would  have  fought  to 
advantage.  Here,  fortunately  for  the  honour  of  the 
army,  and  the  welfare  of  America,  Gen1  Washington 
met  the  troops  retreating  in  disorder,  and  without  any 
plan  to  make  an  opposition.  He  ordered  some  pieces 
of  artillery  to  be  brought  up  to  defend  the  pass,  and 
some  troops  to  form  and  defend  the  pieces.  The 
artillery  was  too  distant  to  be  brought  up  readily,  so 
that  there  was  but  little  opposition  given  here.  A  few 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN   LAURENS.  197 

shot  though,  and  a  little  skirmishing  in  the  wood 
checked  the  enemy's  career.  The  Gen1  expressed  his 
astonishment  at  this  unaccountable  retreat.  Mr  Lee 
indecently  replied  that  the  attack  was  contrary  to  his 
advice  and  opinion  in  council.  We  were  obliged  to 
retire  to  a  position,  which,  though  hastily  reconnoi- 
tered,  proved  an  excellent  one.  Two  regiments  were 
formed  behind  a  fence  in  front  of  the  position.  The 
enemy's  horse  advanced  in  full  charge  with  admirable 
bravery  to  the  distance  of  forty  paces,  when  a  general 
discharge  from  these  two  regiments  did  great  execu 
tion  among  them,  and  made  them  fly  with  the  great 
est  precipitation.  The  grenadiers  succeeded  to  the 
attack.  At  this  time  my  horse  was  killed  under  me. 
In  this  spot  the  action  was  hottest,  and  there  was 
considerable  slaughter  of  British  grenadiers.  The 
General  ordered  Woodford's  brigade  with  some  artil 
lery  to  take  possession  of  an  eminence  on  the  enemy's 
left,  and  cannonade  from  thence.  This  produced  an 
excellent  effect.  The  enemy  were  prevented  from 
advancing  on  us,  and  confined  themselves  to  cannon 
ade  with  a  show  of  turning  our  left  flank.  Our 
artillery  answered  theirs  with  the  greatest  vigour. 
The  General  seeing  that  our  left  flank  was  secure,  as 
the  ground  was  open  and  commanded  by  it,  so  that 
the  enemy  could  not  attempt  to  turn  it  without  expos 
ing  their  own  flank  to  a  heavy  fire  from  our  artillery, 
and  causing  to  pass  in  review  before  us,  the  force 
employed  for  turning  us.  In  the  mean  time,  Gen1  Lee 


198  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN   LAURENS. 

continued  retreating.  Baron  Steuben  was  order'd  to 
form  the  broken  troops  in  the  rear.  The  cannonade 
was  incessant  and  the  General  ordered  parties  to 
advance  from  time  to  time  and  engage  the  British 
grenadiers  and  guards.  The  horse  shewed  themselves 
no  more.  The  grenadiers  showed  their  backs  and 
retreated  every  where  with  precipitation.  They  re 
turned,  however,  again  to  the  charge,  and  were  again 
repulsed.  They  finally  retreated  and  got  over  the 
strong  pass,  where,  as  I  mentioned  before,  Gen1 
"Washington  first  rallied  the  troops.  We  advanced 
in  force  and  continued  masters  of  the  ground;  the 
standards  of  liberty  were  planted  in  triumph  on  the 
field  of  battle.  We  remained  looking  at  each  other, 
with  the  defile  between  us,  till  dark,  and  they  stole 
off  in  silence  at  midnight.  We  have  buried  of  the 
enemy's  slain,  233,  principally  grenadiers;  forty  odd 
of  their  wounded  whom  they  left  at  Monmouth,  fell 
into  our  hands.  Several  officers  are  our  prisoners. 
Among  their  killed  are  Co1  Moncton,  a  captain  of  the 
guards,  and  several  captains  of  grenadiers.  We  have 
taken  but  a  very  inconsiderable  number  of  prisoners, 
for  want  of  a  good  body  of  horse.  Deserters  are 
coming  in  as  usual.  Our  officers  and  men  behaved 
with  that  bravery  which  becomes  freemen,  and  have 
convinced  the  world  that  they  can  beat  British  grena 
diers.  To  name  any  one  in  particular  wd  be  a  kind 
of  injustice  to  the  rest.  There  are  some,  however, 
who  came  more  immediately  under  my  view,  whom 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  199 

I  will  mention  that  you  may  know  them.  B.  Gen1 
Wayne,  Col.  Barber,  Col.  Stewart,  Col.  Livingston, 
Col.  Oswald  of  the  artillery,  Cap*  Doughty  deserve 
well  of  their  country,  and  distinguished  themselves 
nobly. 

The  enemy  buried  many  of  their  dead  that  are  not 
accounted  for  above,  and  carried  off  a  great  number 
of  wounded.  I  have  written  diffusely,  and  yet  I  have 
not  told  you  all.  Gen1  Lee,  I  think,  must  be  tried 
for  misconduct.  However,  as  this  is  a  matter  not 
generally  known,  tho'  it  seems  almost  universally 
wished  for,  I  would  beg  you,  my  dear  father,  to  say 
nothing  of  it. 

You  will  oblige  me  much  by  excusing  me  to  Mr 
Drayton  for  not  writing  to  him.  I  congratulate  you, 
my  dear  father,  upon  this  seasonable  victory,  and  am 
ever 

Your  most  dutiful  and  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 
The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr. 

We  have  no  returns  of  our  loss  as  yet.  The  pro 
portion  on  the  field  of  battle  appeared  but  small.  We 
have  many  good  officers  wounded. 


200          CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

HEAD  QUARTERS  (on  the  lovely  banks  of  the  Raritan, 

opposite  New  Brunswick),  2d  July,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father  : 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  writing  to  you  the  day  before 
yesterday,  from  English  Town,  but  through  some 
mistake  my  letter  was  not  delivered  to  the  express, 
altho  it  was  written  in  a  hurry.  I  recollect  no  cir 
cumstance  in  it  relative  to  our  late  engagement, 
which  farther  inquiry  and  consideration  do  not  con 
firm.  From  a  second  view  of  the  ground,  as  well  as 
the  accounts  I  have  since  had  of  the  enemy's  strength 
and  designs,  it  is  evident  to  me  that  Mr  Clinton's 
whole  flying  army  would  have  fallen  into  our  hands, 
but  for  a  defect  of  abilities  or  good  will  in  the  com 
manding  officer  of  our  advanced  corps.  His  precipi 
tate  retreat  spread  a  baneful  influence  every  where. 
The  most  sanguine  hope  scarcely  extended  farther, 
when  the  Commander  in  chief  rallied  his  troops,  than 
to  an  orderly  retreat ;  but  by  his  intrepidity  and  pre 
sence  of  mind,  a  firm  line  of  troops  was  formed  on  a 
good  position,  from  whence  he  cannonaded  with 
advantage,  and  detached  light  parties  in  front,  who 
drove  the  enemy  from  the  field.  Gen1  Clinton  arid 
Lord  Cornwallis  were  both  present  at  the  action. 

The  reason  for  not  pursuing  them  farther  with  the 
main  body  of  our  army  was,  that  people  well  ac 
quainted  with  the  country  said  that  the  strength  of 
the  ground  would  render  it  impracticable  for  us  to 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.          201 

injure  them  essentially;  and  that  the  sandy,  parched 
soil,  together  with  the  heat  of  the  sun,  would  probably 
occasion  us  considerable  loss.  From  the  specimen  of 
yesterday's  march  we  have  reason  to  think  it  fortunate 
that  we  took  the  part  we  have  done ;  the  heat  of  the 
weather,  thirsty  soil,  and  heavy  sand,  reduced  us  to 
the  necessity  of  bringing  on  many  of  our  weaker  men 
in  waggons. 

We  are  now  arrived  in  a  delightful  country  where  we 
shall  halt  and  refresh  ourselves.  Bathing  in  the  Rari- 
tan,  and  the  good  living  of  the  country  will  speedily 
refresh  us.  I  wish,  my  dear  father,  that  you  could 
ride  along  the  banks  of  this  delightful  river.  Your 
zeal  for  the  public  service  will  not  at  this  time 
permit  it.  But  the  inward  satisfaction  which  you 
must  feel  from  a  patriotic  discharge  of  your  duty,  is 
infinitely  superior  to  the  delights  of  retirement  and 
ease.  I  admire  your  constant  virtue,  and  will  imitate 
your  example. 

Your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

Col.  Morgan  writes  this  day,  that  the  rear  of  the 
enemy  is  a  mile  below  Middle  Town;  that  he  has 
had  a  skirmish  with  several  of  their  light  parties, 
which  has  cost  them  some  lives.  He  had  only  one 
man  wounded.  Desertions  continue,  and  I  suppose 
will  be  very  considerable  at  the  moment  of  embarka 
tion. 

26 


202  CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

I  have  seen  the  General  much  embarrassed  this 
day,  on  the  subject  of  those  who  distinguished  them 
selves  in  the  battle  of  Monmouth.  To  name  a  few, 
and  be  silent  with  regard  to  many  of  equal-merit  wd  be 
an  injustice  to  the  latter;  to  pass  the  whole  over  un 
noticed  wd  be  an  unpardonable  slight ;  indiscriminate 
praise  of  the  whole  wd  be  an  unfair  distribution  of 
rewards;  and  yet,  when  men  generally  conducted 
themselves  so  well  as  our  officers  did,  this  matter  is 
allowable  and  is  eligible,  because  least  liable  to  give 
offence. 

The  merit  of  restoring  the  day,  is  due  to  the 
General;  and  his  conduct  was  such  throughout  the 
affair  as  has  greatly  increased  my  love  and  esteem  for 
him.  My  three  brother  aids  gained  themselves  great 
applause  by  their  activity  and  bravery,  while  the 
three  secretaries  acted  as  military  men  on  this  occa 
sion,  and  proved  themselves  as  worthy  to  wield  the 
sword  as  the  pen. 

Gen1  Steuben,  his  aids  and  your  son,  narrowly 
escaped  being  surrounded  by  the  British  horse,  early 
on  the  morning  of  the  action.  "We  reconnoitered 
them  rather  too  nearly,  and  Ld  Cornwallis  sent  the 
dragoons  of  his  guard  to  make  us  prisoners.  Gen1 
Clinton  saw 1  the  Baron's  star,  and  the  whole  pursuit 


1  A  dragoon  deserter  from  the  enemy  just  informs  us  of  this.  lie 
says  three  others  came  off  with  him,  and  that  the  Hessians  are  desert 
ing  amazingly. 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  203 

was  directed  at  him ;  but  we  all  escaped,  the  dragoons 
fearing  an  ambuscade  of  infantry. 

We  have  buried  Col.  Moncton  with  the  honours  of 
war. 

The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 

President  of  Congress,  Philadelphia. 
(Private). 


HEAD  QUARTERS  NEAR  BRUNSWICK,  Qth  July,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  beg  leave  to  introduce  to  your  acquaintance,  and 
recommend  to  your  civilities  the  Marquis  de  la 
Yienne.  He  arrived  in  camp  while  we  were  at 
Valley  Forge,  with  recommendatory  letters  to  the 
Marquis  de  Lafayette,  and  has  been  with  him  ever 
since.  He  is  now  going  to  present  himself  to  Con 
gress.  If  he  asks  for  any  thing,  they  will  best  know 
whether  his  request  is  reasonable  and  well  founded. 
Unfortunately  there  is  a  prejudice  against  foreigners 
in  many  of  our  officers.  It  is  not  without  uneasiness 
that  some  of  them  see  Baron  de  Steuben,  who  has 
certainly  rendered  us  very  important  services,  and 
who  is  without  doubt  as  capable  of  commanding  as 
any  major  general  we  have,  appointed  to  the  tempo 
rary  command  of  a  division  in  the  absence  of  so  many 
major  generals. 

The  last  accounts  from  the  enemy  are,  that  they 


204  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN   LAURENS. 

were  busily  employed  in  embarking  their  baggage  and 
horses.  Yesterday  I  had  a  view  of  their  fleet,  which 
appeared  to  be  getting  under  weigh. 

Six  grenadiers  came  in  yesterday,  one  of  them  a 
very  intelligent  fellow,  says  that  desertion  prevails  so 
much  among  them  that  unless  they  are  speedily  em 
barked,  their  army  will  dwindle  into  nothing. 

I  felicitate  you,  my  dear  father,  upon  the  many 
happy  events  which  have  taken  place  during  your  presi 
dency,  and  upon  the  happy  prospects  which  continue 
to  present  themselves.  May  God  preserve  you  to  en 
joy  the  complete  triumph  of  liberty  and  your  country. 
Your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 
The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 

President  of  Congress,  Philadelphia. 

Favd  by  the  Marquis  de  la  Vienne. 


HEAD  QUARTERS  NEAR  BRUNSWICK,  7th  July,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

"We  are  just  about  to  march.  Seventy  miles  are 
between  us  and  King's  Ferry,  where  we  shall  probably 
cross  the  North  river.  The  last  intelligence  from  the 
enemy  is,  that  they  had  passed  the  breach  which  the 
sea  has  made  between  Sandy  Hook  and  the  main,  and 
had  taken  up  their  bridge  after  them.  They  were 
embarking  with  the  greatest  expedition.  They  left  a 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.          205 

number  of  waggons  behind  them,  and  cut  the  throats 
of  a  great  many  horses.  Three  signal  guns  were  fired 
from  the  fleet  the  day  before  yesterday  morning,  and 
they  appeared  to  be  all  under  weigh  yesterday. 

Col.  Morgan  informs  us  that  he  had  taken  30 
prisoners,  and  received  100  deserters.  I  suppose  he 
counts  from  the  time  of  his  having  been  detached. 
I  wish  I  had  leisure,  and  something  more  interesting 
to  write  to  you,  nly  dear  father ;  but  our  rear  has  left 
the  ground  long  since,  and  we  must  march. 
Your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 
The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 

President  of  Congress,  Philadelphia. 

(Private). 


HEAD  QUARTERS,  13th  July,  1778. 
I  have  barely  time,  my  dearest  friend  and  father, 
to  say  that  my  heart  overflows  with  gratitude  at  the 
repeated  proofs  of  your  tender  love ;  and  must  defer 
answering  your  kind  letters  of  the  6th  and  10th,  'till 
my  return  from  Count  D'Estaing's  fleet,  where  the 
General  has  thought  proper  to  send  me  with  dis 
patches.  I  must  immediately  prepare  for  my  jour 
ney  and  voyage.  I  could  wish  that  Monsr  Le  Comte 
were  furnished  with  a  proper  number  of  intelligent 
coast  pilots ;  that  as  many  pilot  boats,  schooners  and 


206  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

other  small  swift  sailing  vessels  were  employed  under 
the  conduct  of  judicious  seamen,  to  reconnoitre  the 
enemy's  fleet  whenever  it  appears  at  sea,  and  give 
the  French  admiral  the  earliest  account  of  their 
strength,  &ca.,  as  well  as  keep  him  constantly  advised 
afterwards  of  all  their  motions. 

The  movement  of  our  army  across  the  I^orth  river, 
to  make  demonstration  near  ~N.  York,  may  have  a 
happy  effect  in  preventing  the  English  admiral  from 
making  his  fleet  so  strong  as  he  otherwise  would. 

God  protect  you,  my  dear  father. 

JOHN  LAURENS. 
The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Escf., 

President  of  Congress,  Philadelphia. 

(Private). 


ISth  July,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father  : 

I  am  very  happy  in  having  an  opportunity  of  in 
troducing  to  your  acquaintance,  General  Forman,  a 
gentleman  for  whom  I  have  the  highest  esteem,  on 
account  of  his  indefatigability  and  great  sacrifices  in 
the  public  service. 

You  will  discover  at  a  first  interview  that  he  is  a 
man  of  enlightened  understanding,  and  will  receive 
much  satisfaction  from  his  account  of  the  most  inter 
esting   military  transactions  of  the  present  day.     T 
must  refer  you  to  this  gentleman,  likewise  for  a  more 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  207 

minute  relation  of  the  obstacles  which  have  delayed 
the  operations  of  the  French  fleet.  "We  were  on  board 
of  the  Admiral  together,  and  he  had  an  opportunity  of 
being  acquainted  with  the  difficulties  with  which  the 
Admiral  has  struggled. 

Whatever  civilities  or  services  it  may  be  in  your 
power  to  oifer  to  Gen1  Forman,  will  give  particular 

pleasure  to 

Your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 
The  Ilonble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 

President  of  Congress,  Philadelphia. 


I  have  barely  time,  paper  and  ink  to  write  my  dear 
father  a  hurried  official  letter. 

Upon  my  arrival  here  with  dispatches  from  the 
General  to  Admiral  D'Estaing,  I  found  that  the 
fleet  laboured  under  the  greatest  difficulty  in  procur 
ing  water ;  its  distance  from  the  shore  was  too  great 
to  roll  the  casks  down  to  the  place  of  embarcation ; 
the  disaffected  inhabitants  either  refused  their  wag 
gons,  or  granted  them  only  at  an  exorbitant  price. 
I  have  done  every  thing  in  my  power  to  remedy  this 
evil;  but  as  we  cannot  have  too  many  resources,  I 
would  propose  that  any  fast  sailing  small  craft  in  the 
Delaware  may  be  immediately  employed  in  bringing 
wrater  round.  The  southerly  winds  which  prevail  on 
the  coast  at  this  season,  will  give  them  a  quick  voy- 


208  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

age,  and  they  will  be  in  time  if  they  arrive  with  La 
Chimere. 

It  would  give  me  pleasure  to  speak  to  you,  particu 
larly  of  the  great  qualities  of  the  admiral.  He  has 
inspired  me  in  the  short  acquaintance  I  have  had  with 
him,  with  uncommon  respect.  He  laments  the  insipid 
part  he  is  playing — keeping  the  English  fleet  blocked 
up  within  Sandy  Hook ;  and  taking  prizes  within  their 
view  every  day  does  not  satisfy  a  man  of  his  great 
ideas.  When  six  prizes  were  brought  into  him  yes 
terday,  he  desired  the  major  of  the  fleet  to  give  some 
directions  about  those  Drugs,  and  sighed  at  not  being 
engaged  in  a  way  in  which  more  honour  was  to  be 
acquired. 

Two  of  the  prizes  that  have  been  taken  since  my 
being  here  were  armed,  one  with  4  and  the  other 
with  10  guns.  One  had  a  quantity  of  specie  on 
board — the  profits  of  prizes  taken  from  us.  The 
fleet,  men  and  officers  appear  to  be  in  fine  health, 
and  eager  to  distinguish  themselves  in  a  naval  combat. 
As  much  as  it  is  against  my  desire,  I  must  break  off, 
an  express  rider  must  be  diligent. 

My  dearest  friend  and  father,  I  pray  God  to  protect 
you. 

JOHN  LAUKENS. 
Black  Point,  18th  July,  1778. 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  209 

HEAD  QUARTERS,  22d  July,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

Permit  me  to  introduce  to  your  acquaintance  the 
Baron  D'Arendt,  Col.  of  the  German  batallion,  who 
in  consequence  of  disputes  with  his  corps  of  officers, 
which  he  thinks  make  it  inconvenient  with  his  honour 
to  serve  with  them  again,  and  from  the  improbability 
of  his  being  placed  elsewhere  in  an  agreeable  military 
station,  has  determined  to  resign  his  commission,  and 
goes  to  Congress  to  obtain  their  leave.  I  have  re 
ceived  both  entertainment  and  improvement  in  con 
versing  with  him  as  a  military  man,  and  will  be 
obliged  to  you  to  shew  him  such  civilities  as  your 
leisure  and  your  public  business  will  allow. 

I  am,  with  the  most  tender  attachment  and  respect, 

Your  dutiful  son 

JOHN  LAURENS. 
The  Honble  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 

President  of  Congress,  Philadelphia. 


PROVIDENCE,  4th  August,  1778. 

I  thank  you,  my  dearest  friend  and  father,  for  your 
tender  letter  of  the  26th  ult°.  I  was  upon  the  point  of 
writing  to  you  the  22d,  when  I  was  ordered  to  fly 
with  important  dispatches  to  Govr  Trumbull,  General 
Sullivan  and  the  Count  D'Estaing.  I  commissioned 
27 


210  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

one  of  my  friends  to  acquaint  you  of  the  circumstance ; 
but  perhaps  the  multiplicity  of  affairs  in  which  I  left 
him  involved  will  have  made  him  lose  sight  of  the 
matter.  In  48  hours  over  the  worst,  and  in  some 
parts  the  most  obscure  road  that  I  ever  travel' d,  I 
arrived  at  Providence,  had  a  conference  with  Gen1 
Sullivan,  and  proceeded  immediately  with  pilots  pro 
vided  for  the  French  fleet,  down  to  Point  Judith. 
Boats  were  soon  provided  and  everything  put  in  readi 
ness  for  boarding  the  Admiral  as  soon  as  he  should 
announce  himself  by  the  firing  of  five  cannon.  Here 
I  waited  in  a  very  disagreeable  kind  of  company  'till 
the  morning  of  the  29th,  for  tho'  the  squadron  an 
chored  off  Block  island  the  preceding  afternoon,  the 
haziness  of  the  weather  rendered  them  invisible  to  us. 
In  the  morning  when  the  fog  was  dissipated,  their 
appearance  was  as  sudden  as  a  change  of  decorations 
in  an  opera  house.  Upon  my  delivering  Gen1  Wash 
ington's  dispatches,  and  Gen1  Sullivan's  containing  a 
plan  of  operations,  the  Admiral  informed  me  his 
intention  had  been  to  proceed  immediately  into  the 
main  channel  of  Newport  and  attack  the  enemy's  bat 
teries.  The  day,  however,  began  to  be  too  far  spent. 
It  was  expedient  to  distribute  intelligent  pilots  in  the 
squadron,  and,  in  pursuance  of  Gen1  Sullivan's  plan, 
the  main  channel  was  blocked  up  witli  the  squadron. 
A  ship  of  the  line  was  ordered  up  the  west  channel, 
and  two  frigates  and  a  tender  up  the  east,  By  con 
sulting  the  map,  you  will  find  that  there  are  three 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  211 

entrances  to  Rhode  Island ;  one  on  the  east  of  Rhode 
Island  between  it  and  the  main,  called  the  Seakonnet 
passage ;  one  on  the  west,  between  it  and  Cononicut 
island,  which  is  the  principal  or  main  passage ;  a  third 
between  Cononicnt  and  the  main  land,  commonly 
called  the  western  passage.  In  the  first  Gen1  Sullivan 
informed  the  Admiral  there  were  two  galleys  and  one 
small  frigate ;  in  the  second,  two  frigates  besides  two 
galleys,  and  two  or  three  frigates  at  Newport ;  in  the 
last,  two  small  frigates  ;  farther,  that  he  estimated  the 
enemy's  land  force,  including  three  regiments  posted 
on  Cononicut  at  7,000  effective. 

General  Sullivan's  plan  founded  on  these  data,  was 
that  the  Admiral  should  detach  a  proper  force  up  the 
eastern  and  western  channels,  to  take  the  enemy's 
ships  stationed  in  each ;  to  block  up  the  main  channel 
with  the  remainder  of  the  squadron,  so  as  effectually 
to  cut  off  the  retreat  of  their  ships,  and  to  prevent  the 
arrival  of  reinforcements.  The  French  ships  in  the 
eastern  and  western  channels  were  afterwards  to  cover 
the  passage  of  the  American  troops  from  Tiverton  and 
Bristol.  The  troops  were  not  to  amuse  themselves 
with  attacking  the  works  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
island ;  but  a  sufficient  detachment  was  to  be  left  to 
be  a  guard  upon  the  troops  posted  in  those  works, 
while  the  main  body  was  to  advance  rapidly  to  the 
attack  of  the  fort  and  redoubts,  which  immediately 
environ  the  town  of  Newport.  At  the  moment  of 
that  attack  the  count  was  to  force  the  passage  into 


212  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

Newport  harbour,  silence  the  enemy's  batteries,  can 
nonade  the  town,  and  disembark  his  marines  and 
land  forces  at  the  most  proper  place  for  seconding  the 
American  attack. 

The  Sagittaire,  a  ship  of  the  line,  went  up  the 
western  passage  on  the  morning  of  the  30th,  and  was 
fired  upon  by  a  two  gun  battery  of  24  pounders,  which 
the  enemy  had  on  the  west  side  of  Cononicut.  The 
Sagittaire  returned  a  broadside  as  she  passed,  and  we 
discovered  from  the  Admiral's  ship  an  explosion  at  the 
battery,  which  induced  us  to  believe  that  the  enemy 
had  abandoned  it. 

The  ship  received  two  scratches  in  her  hull,  and 
proceeded  to  her  station. 

The  Aimable  and  Alemene  frigates  accompanied 
by  the  Stanley  (prize)  tender,  went  up  the  eastern 
passage.  Upon  their  approach,  the  enemy  set  fire  to 
the  Kingfisher  20  gun  sloop,  and  to  the  Lamb  galley 
mounting and  sent  the  Spitfire  galley  mountiiie: 

O  «/  O 

in   form    of  a  fire  ship.      The  Count  de  Grace 

commanded  the  boat  which  was  ordered  to  tow  the 
latter  off.  She  blew  up  soon  after  the  grapnel  was 
fixed,  and  the  gallant  officer  with  his  crew  escaped 
unhurt.  An  officer  who  went  on  board  with  a  party 
to  extinguish  the  flames  of  the  Kingfisher,  had  an 
escape  equally  providential.  Her  powder  room  blew 
up  while  they  were  on  board,  and  they  received 
no  injury.  The  hull  drifted  over  to  the  main  and  her 
guns  will  be  saved. 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOIIN    LAURENS.  213 

From  the  enemy's  keeping  possession  of  the  island 
of  Cononicut,  the  admiral  concluded  that  it  was  an 
important  post  to  them.  The  battery  which  they  had 
on  the  east  side  of  it,  afforded  a  cross  fire  upon  the 
entrance  of  the  harbour,  and  the  three  regiments  there 
made  it  an  object.  The  count  therefore  thought  it 
expedient  that  we  should  make  ourselves  masters  of 
it.  The  most  effectual  way  of  attacking  it  would  have 
been  by  disembarking  troops  on  the  west  side  of  it, 
and  sending  a  proper  force  of  ships  up  the  main  chan 
nel  to  run  through  the  fire  of  the  batteries  at  the 
entrance,  and  take  a  proper  position  for  cutting  off 
the  communication  between  Rhode  Island  and  Co 
nonicut,  so  as  to  prevent  the  enemy's  throwing  across 
reinforcements ;  but,  upon  inquiry,  it  was  found  im 
practicable  to  anchor  the  ships  any  where  out  of  the 
reach  of  the  enemy's  batteries,  so  that  after  running 
the  gauntlet  at  the  entrance,  the  ships  wd  have  been 
exposed  to  a  constant  deliberate  fire  in  the  harbour. 
These  difficulties  obliged  the  count  to  renounce  the 
plan  of  sending  ships  up  the  main  channel  for  this 
duty.  It  was  then  inquired  whether  the  ships  might 
not  effect  the  business  by  going  up  the  western  chan 
nel,  turning  the  north  point  of  Cononicut  and  coming 
down  the  main  channel.  By  this  means  they  would 
in  the  first  instance  avoid  the  cross  fire  at  the  en 
trance,  and  might  take  such  a  position  relatively  to 
the  harbour  as  wd  discourage  the  enemy  from  throw 
ing  across  succours.  But  the  most  experienced  pilots 


214  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

informed  us  that  to  effect  this  detour,  the  ships  must 
either  have  a  wind  which  wd  answer  equally  for  going 
up  the  western  and  coming  down  the  main  channel, 
or,  that  after  going  up  with  a  fair  wind,  they  would 
be  obliged  to  beat  down  the  main  channel,  or,  lastly, 
they  would  be  obliged  to  wait  for  a  fair  wind  to  bring 
them  down  from  the  north  end  of  Cononicut.  The 
delay  and  uncertainty  incident  to  the  first  and  last 
put  them  out  of  the  question.  The  second  was  pro 
nounced  impracticable  on  account  of  the  narrowness 
of  the  main  channel  above  Newport,  which  wd  not 
allow  scope  enough  for  the  ships  work6,  and  missing- 
stays  wd  be  fatal  in  such  circumstances. 

It  was  determined  therefore,  that  in  order  to  gain 
Cononicut,  a  body  of  militia  shd  be  applied  for  to 
make  us  equal  to  such  a  reinforcement  as  we  thought 
the  enemy  could  spare.  Col.  Fleury  and  myself  went 
by  the  admiral's  desire,  to  make  application  for  this 
purpose.  In  our  way  we  learnt  that  some  American 
privateers  had  been  on  the  island,  and  that  the  enemy 
had  evacuated  the  battery  which  fired  on  the  iSagit- 
taire.  We  met  Gen1  Sullivan  on  his  way  to  the  fleet, 
where  he  was  going  to  have  a  conference  with  the 
Admiral,  and  propose  some  changes  in  his  plan.  He 
was  received  on  board  with  the  guard  of  marines, 
and  the  drums  beating  to  arms  ;  and,  at  his  departure, 
the  ship  was  manned  and  fifteen  cannon  fired. 

The  evening  of  the  30th,  the  outermost  ships  made 
signals  of  the  appearance  of  a  fleet.  The  Admiral  got 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  215 

his  squadron  in  readiness  for  fight  and  chase ;  but  the 
fleet  put  about  and  escaped  under  the  veil  of  night. 
It  proved  to  be  8  transports  with  wood  from  Long 
Island  bound  to  ISTewport,  and  conveyed  by  a  frigate. 

On  the  evening  of  the  31st,  the  Admiral  sent  a  party 
to  reconnoitre  Cononicut,  and  discover  whether  the 
enemy  had  really  abandoned  all  their  batteries  as  was 
reported.  It  was  found  that  they  had. 

The  next  morning  the  Admiral  landed  in  order  to 
view  the  enemy's  batteries  from  the  east  side  of  Co 
nonicut.  We  found  in  the  battery  which  fired  on  the 
Sagittaire  two  24  pounders  spiked,  and  all  their  heavy 
ammunition.  From  the  battery  on  the  E.  end,  we 
had  a  distinct  view  of  the  town  shipping,  and  bat 
teries.  The  latter  lost  that  respectability  which  they 
had  on  paper ;  the  fire  from  the  ships  of  the  line  must 
annihilate  them  in  an  hour.  The  fort  on  an  emi 
nence  called  Domine  Hill,  back  of  the  town,  may 
require  our  heavy  artillery  and  some  shells.  We 
have  every  reason  to  believe  that  we  shall  effect  our 
landing  on  the  island  without  opposition,  as  the 
enemy  seemed  to  have  concentrated  their  force  in 
Newport. 

The  admiral  has  disembarrassed  himself  of  his  pri 
soners,  sick  and  prizes.  He  is  in  perfect  readiness  for 
acting  his  part,  and  as  anxious  as  a  man  can  be. 

o  J-  ' 

General  Sullivan  has  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost, 
but  the  backwardness  of  the  militia  called  for  from 
the  neighboring  states  the  necessity  of  constructing 


216  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

transport  boats  to  supply  the  place  of  those  destroyed 
by  the  enemy  in  their  last  descent,  and  many  other 
necessary  preparations  which  require  time,  have  de 
layed  us  till  now,  and  I  find  it  impossible  to  tell  you 
with  precision  on  what  day  we  shall  be  ready. 

I  fear,  my  dearest  father,  that  I  have  tired  you  with 
detail,  and  that  from  a  habit  of  speaking  of  our  opera 
tions  with  my  finger  on  the  map,  I  may  in  some  places 
not  have  expressed  my  meaning  fully  enough,  but  my 
time  unluckily  will  not  permit  to  remove  these  incon 
veniences  by  writing  a  new  letter.  I  am  just  come 
from  the  admiral  to  see  if  it  will  be  possible  by  any 
means  to  hasten  our  land  operations.  The  French 
squadron  will  want  a  great  quantity  of  provisions 
whether  they  winter  here  or  return  to  France.  ~No 
biscuit  is  to  be  had  here.  Pennsylvania  must  fur 
nish  flour,  and  bakers  should  be  employed  there 
immediately. 

It  is  reported  that  20  sail  of  Spanish  ships  are  on 
the  coast.     Pray,  who  is  Don  Juan  de  Miralles  ? 
I  am  ever  your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

In  the  letter  which  I  wrote  you  from  Black  point, 
I  mentioned  the  Admiral's  intention  to  send  his  pri 
soners  to  Philadelphia.  Some  difficulties  induced  him 
to  change  his  plan ;  they  are  all  landed  here. 

Deserters  from  Rhode  Island  say  the  troops  are 
in  want  of  provisions,  and  look  upon  themselves  as 
prisoners. 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN   LAURENS.          217 

The  Marquis  de  Lafayette,  with  a  division  from  the 
grand  army,  is  arrived,  and  his  men  have  had  time  to 
refresh  themselves.  Gen1  Greene  is  likewise  arrived. 

Gen1  Sullivan's  1st  estimate  of  the  enemy's  land  force 
is  too  high ;  they  cannot  have  above  5,000  men,  and 
the  Gen1  begins  to  think  so  himself. 


President  of  Congress. 


My  Dear  Father  : 

I  have  just  had  the  satisfaction  of  receiving  your 
kind  letter  of  the  13th.  The  relation  of  what  has 
passed,  since  I  last  had  the  pleasure  of  writing,  will  not 
in  general  amuse  you,  but  it  is  necessary  that  you  shd 
know  it,  and  I  will  be  exceedingly  brief.  According 
to  the  first  plan  proposed  by  General  Sullivan,  the 
American  forces  were  to  land  on  the  east  side  of 
Rhode  Island  under  cover  of  the  fire  of  three  frigates 
stationed  in  the  eastern  channel  for  that  purpose.  A 
signal  was  to  be  given  immediately  as  our  boats 
should  begin  to  cross,  and  another  when  the  descent 
should  be  effected.  Upon  the  latter,  the  French 
troops  were  to  disembark  on  the  east  side  of  the 
island,  and  a  junction  was  to  be  formed  as  speedily  as 
possible ;  but  the  ambition  of  an  individual  and  na 
tional  pride  discovered  insuperable  obstacles  to  this 
disposition.  The  Marquis  de  Lafayette  aspired  to  the 
command  of  the  French  troops  in  conjunction  with 
28 


218          CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN   LAURENS. 

the  flower  of  Gen1  Sullivan's  army.  In  a  visit  which  he 
had  paid  to  the  fleet,  he  prevailed  upon  the  Count 
D'Estaing  to  write  upon  this  suhject.  The  count  inti 
mated  in  his  letter  a  desire  that  some  good  American 
troops  shd  be  annexed  to  the  French,  adding  that  if 
the  command  of  them  were  given  to  M.  de  Lafayette 
it  wd  be  a  means  of  facilitating  the  junction  between 
the  troops  of  the  two  nations,  as  he  was  acquainted 
with  the  service  of  both,  and  that  in  case  any  naval 
operations  shd  require  his  (the  count's)  return  on  board 
the  squadron,  the  Marquis  wd  naturally  take  the 
command  in  his  absence  which  wd  prevent  many 
difficulties  that  wd  arise  on  that  account.  The 
Marquis  strenuously  contended  that  a  considerable 
detachment  of  select  troops  ought  to  be  annexed  to 
the  French.  The  pride  of  his  nation  would  never 
suffer  the  present  disposition  to  take  place,  as  by  it 
the  French  batallions  wd  land  under  cover  of  the 
American  fire,  and  play  a  humiliating  secondary  part. 

The  arguments  against  gratifying  him  in  his  request 
were  these :  General  Sullivan's  army  contained  a 
very  small  proportion  of  regular  troops ;  it  was  neces 
sary  that  a  main  body  capable  of  resisting  the  enemy's 
force  should  exist,  as  a  contrary  conduct  wd  expose 
either  division  to  a  total  defeat  or  a  vigorous  attack 
from  the  enemy.  The  Marquis,  however,  seemed 
much  dissatisfied,  and  his  private  views  withdrew 
his  attention  wholly  from  the  general  interest. 

On  the  8th  Gen1  Sullivan  received  a  letter  from  the 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.          219 

Admiral,  in  which  he  says  that  the  disposition  for 
disembarking  is  militarily  impossible.  That  the  Ame 
rican  generals  were  now  for  the  first  time  furnished 
with  an  opportunity  of  discovering  the  value  which 
they  set  on  the  French  alliance,  by  the  number  and 
composition  of  the  troops  which  they  wd  annex  to  the 
French.  It  was  not  for  him  to  point  out  the  number, 
but  he  wd  gladly  have  it  in  his  power  to  give  an 
account  both  to  the  Congress  and  his  king  of  the 
American  detachm*  which  should  be  sent  to  him.  In 
consequence  of  this  letter,  it  was  determined  that 
Jackson's  regiment,  and  as  many  good  militia  as  in 
the  whole  wd  amount  to  1,000  men  shd  be  sent  under 
the  command  of  the  marquis.  The  tardiness  of  the 
militia  and  the  impossibility  of  completing  the  trans 
port  boats  so  soon  as  expected,  and  the  slow  arrival  of 
the  heavy  cannon,  had  obliged  Gen1  Sullivan  more 
than  once  to  procrastinate  the  attack.  He  had  fixed 
on  the  9th,  and  for  the  reasons  mentioned  in  my  last, 
the  Count  was  to  force  his  passage  with  the  squadron, 
on  the  8th. 

The  Gen1  found  it  impossible  to  keep  his  word,  and 
wrote  to  appoint  another  day  on  which  he  declared 
he  wd  make  his  descent  at  all  events. 

The  Count,  however,  had  made  his  arrangements 
and  entered  the  harbour  on  the  8th.  A  thundering 
cannonade  was  kept  up  between  the  batteries  and 
ships  as  they  passed.  The  injury  to  the  latter  is  not 
worth  notice. 


220  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

9th,  Gen1  Sullivan  received  intelligence  both  from 
deserters  and  inhabitants,  that  the  enemy  had  evacu 
ated  all  their  redoubts  and  batteries  on  the  north  part 
of  the  island.  He  took  the  hardy  resolution  of  avail 
ing  himself  of  this  move  and  threw  his  whole  army 
across.1  This  measure  gave  much  umbrage  to  the 
French  officers.  They  conceived  their  troops  injured 
by  our  landing  first,  and  talked  like  women  disputing 
precedence  in  a  country  dance,  instead  of  men  en 
gaged  in  pursuing  the  common  interest  of  two  great 
nations. 

Admiral  Howe's  fleet  appeared  in  the  offing. 

10th.  The  French  squadron  passed  the  batteries  of 
Newport  (receiving  their  fire  and  returning  broad 
sides),  without  receiving  any  damage  by  reason  of  the 
distance,  and  gave  chase  to  the  British  fleet.  On  the 
11th  such  a  storm  of  wind  and  rain  arose  as  filled  us 
with  anxiety  for  the  French  squadron.  The  army 
suffered  much  during  the  bad  weather  for  want  of 
tents,  and  on  account  of  the  impossibility  of  crossing 
the  ferry,  which  circumstance  reduced  our  magazines 
to  a  low  ebb. 

On  the  15th,  the  army  moved  to  a  position  for  com 
mencing  its  operations  against  the  enemy,  and  some 
works  were  thrown  up  the  same  night  for  its  security. 

On  the  evening  of  the  16th,  a  battery  of  protection 
and  its  communication  were  begun.  The  next  morn- 


An  officer  was  sent  immediately  to  give  the  Admiral  notice  of  it. 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN   LAURENS.  221 

ing  as  soon  as  our  unfinished  work  could  be  disco 
vered,  the  enemy's  batteries  began  to  fire  on  it.  Our 
works  have  been  carrying  on  every  night  since ;  and 
as  long  as  day-light  lasts  there  is  generally  a  slow 
firing  kept  up  on  each  side,  without  any  effect  worth 
mentioning.  On  account  of  the  great  distance,  the 
method  that  has  been  hitherto  pursued  will  prove  very 
tedious  if  continued. 

20th.  The  French  squadron  appears  and  terminates 
much  anxiety.  The  Admiral's  ship  and  the  Marseilles 
were  dismasted  in  the  storm.  The  former  totally  dis 
masted,  without  a  rudder,  was  attacked  by  a  British 
fifty  gun  ship,  which  she  obliged  to  sheer  off,  by 
bringing  her  stern  chasers  to  bear.  Imagine  the  cruel 
situation  of  the  Count  to  see  his  ship  thus  insulted, 
after  having  arrived  in  the  midst  of  the  English 
squadron  and  preparing  for  a  combat  in  which  victory 
was  inevitably  his;  but  a  most  dreadful  storm  of 
which  he  had  no  idea,  dispersed  every  thing. 

I  was  going  on,  but  was  called  away  upon  the  most 
important  business. 

The  council  of  war  on  board  the  French  vessels 
have  determined  that  the  squadron  ought  to  go  imme 
diately  to  Boston  to  refit.  I  am  going  on  board  with 
a  solemn  protest  against  it. 

Adieu. 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

22  Awf,  1778. 


222  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

HEAD  QUARTERS,  15th  Septem.,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  avail  myself  of  Col.  Bannister's  offer  to  have  the 
pleasure  of  writing  to  you. 

The  intelligence  which  we  have  received  since  my 
last,  confirms  the  idea  of  a  grand  move  on  the  part  of 
the  enemy.  A  British  matross  who  deserted  the  day 
before  yesterday  declares  that  he  assisted  in  embark 
ing  artillery  and  stores,  and  says  that  five  thousand 
troops  are  destined  for  the  "West  Indies.  Accounts  re 
ceived  some  days  since  of  taylors  being  employed  in 
stripping  regimental  coats  of  their  lining  and  making 
up  thin  overalls  and  waistcoats,  indicates  an  expedi 
tion  to  a  warmer  climate  than  any  on  the  territories 
of  the  United  States,  in  the  approaching  season. 
It  is  reported  that  many  merchants  are  disposing  of 
their  wares  by  vendue  at  low  rates.  I  am  not  ac 
quainted  with  the  persons  to  whom  we  are  indebted 
for  intelligence,  and  therefore  cannot  be  sure  whether 
they  are  the  dupes  of  reports  circulated  by  the  enemy, 
or  give  us  a  relation  of  facts  that  may  be  depended  on. 

There  appears  to  be  no  other  object  here  for  the 
enemy  but  the  French  squadron,  nor  elsewhere  but 
the  French  islands.  Either  will  require  an  exertion 
of  their  whole  force,  and  the  latter  perhaps  will  upon 
several  accounts  be  preferred. 

Some  people  are  of  opinion  that  they  will  aim  first 
at  the  ruin  of  the  squadron,  and  then  direct  their 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURE.NS.          223 

whole  force  against  some  French  island.  It  is  dif 
ficult  to  predict  what  measures  will  be  pursued  by 
men,  who  have  been  so  eccentric  in  their  military 
operations. 

If  they  had  been  vigorous,  the  French  squadron 
might  have  fallen  a  sacrifice,  and  it  would  have  been 
a  tottering  stroke  to  the  marine  of  France.  But  their 
delay  and  the  disposition  which  has  been  made  by  our 
general,  have,  I  hope,  pretty  well  secured  an  object  of 
such  importance  to  the  common  cause. 

It  is  to  be  urged  in  excuse  for  them  that  Byron's 
fleet  suffered  by  a  storm,  and  that  the  crews  belonging 
to  it  are  in  very  bad  health.  The  division  of  six  ships 
under  Rear  Admiral  Parker  at  New  York,  has  been 
obliged  to  land  five  hundred,  some  say  a  thousand 
men ;  besides,  you  know,  two  of  his  fleet  (one  of  them 
the  Admiral's  ship),  arc  said  to  be  missing,  and  one,  to 
have  put  back  to  Portsmouth. 

The  army  will  move  from  its  present  position  to 
morrow  morning. 

God  preserve  you,  my  dear  father. 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

Mr.  Gal  van,  an  officer  in  one  of  our  Carolina  regi 
ments  brought  me  two  letters  of  very  particular 
recommendation  from  the  Bn.  de  Holzendorff  and 
Mr.  Reid.  Some  of  our  family  informed  me  that  in 
a  letter  to  me,  which  I  have  not  yet  received,  this  per 
son  was  mentioned  in  such  a  manner  as  excluded  him 


224  CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

from  favour.  When  he  called  upon  me,  therefore,  I 
did  not  introduce  him  to  the  General ;  he  found  means 
however,  to  introduce  himself,  and  ask  the  General's 
protection.  The  Gen1  asked  me  in  private  whether 
this  was  not  the  person  alluded  to  in  your  letter ;  I 
told  him  he  was;  the  General  then  left  the  room  with 
out  taking  any  farther  notice  of  him.  Galvan  finding 
he  had  so  little  encouragement  to  stay,  retired.  Yes 
terday  he  came  again  and  produced  a  letter  which  he 
said  he  intended  to  send  to  you,  in  which  he  desires 
that  through  my  mediation  he  might  be  restored  to 
your  friendship,  and  desired  leave  to  read  it.  I  told 
him  he  was  the  master  to  write  what  he  pleased,  but 
that  I  should  not  confirm  that  in  my  letters  to  you. 
He  asked  me  the  reason  of  the  cold  reception  the 
Gen1  had  given  him.  I  told  him  that  I  must  frankly 
inform  him  that  we  had  all  heard  very  serious  matters 
to  his  disadvantage,  and  besides  that,  as  his  only  object 
here  was  to  serve  as  a  volunteer,  he  might  depend 
upon  it,  that  there  was  no  opening  for  him.  He 
asked  me  whether  I  had  received  any  letter  from  you 
respecting  him ;  I  told  him  I  had  not.  He  desired  to 
have  an  opportunity  of  justifying  himself  before  the 
General,  but  this  I  waived.  I  was  then  called  oft'  for 
some  business,  and  he  went  away  saying  that  he 
would  call  again. 

His  Excellency,  Henry  Laurens,  Esqr., 

President  of  Congress,  Philadelphia. 
(Private). 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  225 

HEAD  QUARTERS,  24th  September,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father  : 

I  have  received  your  kind  favour  of  the  17th  inst. 

The  information  which  you  give  me  relative  to  my 
hospitable  acquaintance,  gives  me  great  pain.  I  had 
conceived  an  esteem  for  him,  and  it  afflicts  me  to  find 
a  new  instance  of  the  depravity  of  my  species. 

I  am  sorry  that  Kinloch  did  not  return  to  America  ,/ 
sooner.  His  former  sentiments  on  the  present  con 
test,  give  reason  to  suspect,  if  he  is  a  convert,  that 
success  on  our  side  has  alone  operated  the  change. 
Something  may  be  drawn  in  palliation  of  his  conduct 
from  the  education  he  received,  and  the  powerful  in 
fluence  which  his  guardian  had  over  him. 

Beresford's  circumstances  were  peculiar,  he  has 
been  uniformly  a  friend  to  his  country. 

The  approach  of  the  period  which  you  allude  to, 
occasions  the  greatest  anxiety  in  my  mind.  The 
public  interest  and  my  own  lead  me  to  wish  that  you 
may  continue  in  the  august  assembly  of  the  states. 
I  dread  your  being  so  remote  from  where  my  duty 
places  me,  and  see  collected  in  one  view  all  the  pain 
ful  consequences  of  it.  It  was  my  intention  at  all 
events  to  have  paid  you  the  homage  of  my  love  in 
Philadelphia,  at  the  close  of  the  present  campaign. 
We  are  at  present  in  a  disagreeable  state  of  suspense. 
Continued  preparations  in  New  York  announce  a  very 
considerable  embarkation.  Our  spies  inform  us  that 
29 


226  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

a  council  of  war  had  been  held,  and  continued  for 
three  days.  Lord  Howe  has  certainly  arrived.  Gen1 
Gray's  troops  had  returned  by  way  of  the  sound  and 
been  relanded.  Admiral  Byron  in  the  Princess  Royal 
of  90  guns,  accompanied  by  the  Culloden,  Cap*  Bal- 
four  of  74,  had  arrived  at  New  York,  according  to 
the  Gazette  of  that  place ;  but  I  believe  the  truth  was, 
that  they  only  arrived  off  the  Hook.  They  are  since 
arrived  at  Newport  where  they  are  refitting.  It  is 
probable  that  the  Princess  Royal  could  not  get  into 
port  at  N.  York,  without  taking  out  the  greatest  part 
of  her  artillery.  Accounts  from  various  quarters  in 
form  us,  that  Lord  Howe  is  preparing  for  England, 
and  that  Admiral  Byron  will  take  the  command. 

The  arrival  of  the  August  packet  will  in  all  proba 
bility  determine  his  operations.  The  sickly  state  of 
his  crews,  and  the  damage  which  his  ships  suffered  in 
the  storm,  have  rendered  him  inactive  here  till  the 
opportunity  is  lost  for  the  only  enterprise  which  re 
mains  for  the  enemy's  combined  land  and  naval  force 
in  America. 

Nothing  remains  for  them,  but  to  render  the 
garrisons  of  Quebec  and  Halifax  respectable  (at 
the  latter  place,  the  seventieth  regiment,  the  Duke 
of  Hamilton's  and  the  Duke  of  Argyle's  highland 
men,  according  to  the  N.  York  paper,  have  arrived), 
to  evacuate  New  York  and  Rhode  Island,  and 
withdraw  the  flower  of  the  whole  British  infantry, 
which  in  their  present  situation  are  useless  as  to  the 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  227 

general  operations  of  the  war.  The  French  have 
more  troops  in  the  West  India  islands,  than  are  neces 
sary  for  a  mere  defensive  plan.  Their  magazines  are 
well  furnished;  the  British  011  their  parts  are  weak 
in  both  these  respects  in  that  quarter,  and  I  am  con 
vinced  that  the  slightest  demonstration  there,  would 
occasion  the  immediate  removal  of  General  Clinton's 
army.  Some  think  that  the  British  will  keep  posses 
sion  of  N.  York  and  Rhode  Island,  to  enable  them  to 
make  better  terms. 

There  is  field  for  conjecture;  the  British  may  at 
this  moment  be  attempting  a  negotiation  with  France. 
It  can  be  neither  her  interest  nor  inclination  to  sacri 
fice  her  ally ;  a  general  peace  in  this  case  would  be 
the  consequence.  But  accident  or  the  caprice  of  a 
minister  may  disappoint  the  most  rational  predictions, 
and  give  rise  to  events  which,  at  present,  appear  the 
most  improbable. 

An  unlucky  affray  has  happened  at  Boston  which 
gives  us  the  deepest  concern.  We  are  not  acquainted 
with  particulars  any  farther  than  that  a  quarrel  arose 
between  some  American  and  French  sailors.  They 
proceeded  from  harsh  words  to  more  dangerous  blows. 
Two  valuable  French  officers  who  attempted  to  quell 
the  riot  were  much  abused,  and  one  of  them,  the 
Count  de  S'  Sauveur  it  is  feared  will  not  recover. 

Gen1  Greene  informs  us  that  the  matter  has  been 
generally  traced  and  found  to  originate  with  the  Con 
vention  troops.  The  sailors  who  were  the  immediate 


228  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

instruments  were  Britons  in  the  privateer  service.  If 
this  is  not  strictly  true,  it  is  a  story  which  policy  wd 
encourage. 

G-en1  Greene  in  his  first  letter  on  the  subject  informs 
us  that  the  French  officers  seemed  satisfied  that  the 
mischief  had  been  planned  by  some  artful  hand  in 
Burgoyne's  army,  but  he  since  tells  us  that  there  are 
jealousies  on  the  subject. 

I  saw  very  plainly  when  I  was  at  Boston,  that  our 
antient  hereditary  prejudices  were  very  far  from  being 
eradicated. 

A  sergeant  major  who  deserted  from  the  2d  batallion 
of  Highlanders  gives  Gen1  Scott  the  following  intel 
ligence.  That  the  1st  and  2d  British  brigade  had 
received  orders  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  for 
embarking  for  the  "W".  Indies ;  that  the  transports  are 
lying  in  readiness  to  take  them  on  board;  he  has 
heard  officers  say  that  New  York  is  to  be  evacuated. 
Another  deserter  asserts  that  four  regiments  are 
already  embarked,  and  that  the  horse  transports  as 
well  as  others  are  ordered  to  prepare  for  sea. 

I  omitted  to  mention  to  you  that  Lord  Howe  was 
on  board  a  frigate  during  the  whole  time  that  Count 
D'Estaing  gave  him  chace.  This  is  a  privilege  al 
lowed  to  admirals  for  their  personal  security,  and  is 
analagous  to  a  general's  placing  himself  on  a  safe  emi 
nence  to  view  an  engagement,  but  it  could  only  be  used 
in  a  desperate  case,  and  by  a  man  of  Lord  Howe's  esta 
blished  reputation. 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  229 

For  want  of  time  to  arrange  my  ideas,  I  have  writ 
ten  you  a  chaos  of  intelligence,  which  I  fear  you.  will 
hardly  be  able  to  reduce  to  any  kind  of  order. 

You  will  not,  I  hope,  quit  Philadelphia  immediately 
after  the  first  of  next  month.  A  few  days  more  must 
develop  the  enemy's  intentions,  and  may  give  me  an 
opportunity  of  obtaining  a  furlough,  at  a  time  when  it 
will  not  be  dishonourable  to  take  one.  The  campaign 
in  all  probability  will  terminate  very  insipidly,  by  the 
evacuation  of  N.  York  and  Rhode  Island,  and  I  shall 
have  time  enough  to  rejoin  the  army  for  the  Canadian 
expedition  if  it  should  take  place. 

Anticipating  the  happiness  which  I  shall  enjoy  in 
embracing  you,  I  commend  myself  to  your  love,  and 
my  dear  father  to  God's  protection. 

JOHN  LAURENS. 

Gen1  Scott  informs  us  that  a  party  of  the  enemy 
have  advanced  on  this  side  Kingsbridge.  Another 
party  have  landed  at  Paulus  Hook  and  advanced  be 
yond  Bergen.  From  the  description,  they  are  strong 
foraging  parties,  and  design  to  glean  the  county 
previous  to  taking  leave.  Our  General  has  given 
orders  to  parry  any  stroke  which  they  may  medi 
tate  against  our  posts  in  the  highlands,  tho'  the 
possibility  of  such  an  enterprise  is  exceedingly  remote, 
and  their  dispositions  in  this  case  would  be  void  of 
common  sense. 

His  Excellency  Henry  Laurens,  Escf., 

President  of  Congress,  Philadelphia. 
(Private). 


230          CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

HEAD  QUARTERS,  7/A  October,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

The  M.  de  Lafayette  will  not  long  have  delayed 
after  his  arrival  to  open  to  you  a  plan  for  introducing 
French  troops  into  Canada.  From  the  manner  in 
which  he  explained  himself  to  the  General,  he  seemed 
to  intimate  a  desire  that  Congress  wd  solicit  him  to 
bring  about  this  business,  as  being  sensible  of  its 
utility  to  the  United  States.  He  did  not  expect  to 
succeed  in  any  other  way  than  by  intrigues,  petticoat 
interest,  &ca.  He  lays  down  as  self-evident  that 
Canada  cannot  be  conquered  by  American  forces 
alone ;  that  a  Frenchman  of  birth  and  distinction  at 
the  head  of  four  thousand  of  his  countrymen,  and 
speaking  in  the  name  of  the  Grand  Monarque  is  alone 
capable  of  producing  a  revolution  in  that  country. 
When  he  asked  my  opinion  privately  on  the  subject, 
and  asked  me  what  I  would  say  if  I  were  a  member 
of  Congress  to  such  a  proposition,  I  replied  that  I  did 
not  think  Congress  could  solicit,  or  even  accept  it, 
because  there  did  not  appear  a  sufficient  reciprocity 
in  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  such  an  expedition. 
On  the  one  side  there  would  be  an  immense  expense 
of  transporting  troops,  loss  of  valuable  officers  and 
soldiers,  &ca.,  in  fine,  all  the  disadvantages,  and  on 
the  other,  all  the  gain.  That  he  did  well  to  say  the 
project  could  only  take  place  by  indirect  means,  for 
a  minister  would  not  in  his  cool  moments  deprive  his 


CORRESPONDENCE   OF   JOHN    LAURENS.  231 

country  of  so  many  troops,  with  no  other  view  than 
that  of  killing  so  many  Englishmen,  and  conquering 
an  extensive  province  for  us ;  that  he  was  to  reflect 
that  France,  tho'  powerful  in  men,  had  an  extensive 
frontier  to  guard,  and  in  an  European  war  wd  not  have 
to  do  with  England  alone.  This  was  my  private 
opinion  to  the  Marquis ;  my  still  more  private  opin 
ion  is,  that  we  shd  not  give  France  any  new  preten 
sions  to  Canada.  It  is  a  delicate  subject  to  touch  on, 
but  I  dare  say  that  we  agree  in  our  sentiments,  and 
that  the  Marquis  will  be  thanked  for  his  good  inten 
tions,  and  his  offers  waived. 

Our  last  intelligence,  from  deserters  belonging  to 
different  corps,  and  who  came  out  at  different  times, 
confirms  the  intended  embarkation  of  ten  regiments 
for  the  W.  Indies.  The  10th  45th  and  52d  they  say, 
were  drafted  to  complete  these  regiments,  and  the 
forage  and  live  stock  collected  in  Jersey  are  destined 
for  their  use. 

Gen1  Scott  writes  that  the  enemy  are  very  busy  in 
embarking  baggage,  as  may  be  discovered  from  an 
eminence  to  which  his  parties  go. 

You  will  see  the  last  unavailing  effort  of  the  com 
missioners  in  their  manifesto. 

Your  most  affectionate 

JOHN  LAURENS. 


232  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

HEAD  QUARTERS,  13th  October,  1778. 
My  Dear  Father : 

I  should  have  been  glad  to  have  accompanied  Mr 
Custis,  Mrs  Washington's  son,  who  is  so  kind  as  to 
take  charge  of  this;  but  I  cannot  be  ready  in  less 
than  a  week  or  ten  days. 

The  late  bad  weather  drove  that  detachment  of  the 
enemy,  that  was  posted  on  Valentine's  hill,  into  the  city, 
and  they  now  coniine  themselves  within  Kingsbridge. 
The  detachment  in  Jersey  from  which  there  are  daily 
desertions  of  two  or  three,  have  not  yet  returned ;  but 
they  have  contracted  themselves,  and  seemed  to  be 
wholly  employed  in  collecting  and  carrying  off  their 
spoil.  Deserters  inform  us  that  they  have  indiscrimi 
nately  taken  every  kind  of  grain,  Indian  corn,  stock 
and  all.  One  of  the  vessels  burnt  by  our  parties,  had 
stalls  fitted  up  for  twelve  horses,  and  ample  provi 
sion  of  water  for  a  sea  voyage.  "We  have  repeated 
accounts  of  the  sickliness  of  Byron's  crews.  The 
report  of  their  disorder  being  contagious  is  without 
foundation,  as  well  as  that  of  the  British  fleets  having 
put  to  sea  in  quest  of  the  French. 

General  Greene  who  arrived  in  camp  yesterday, 
gives  us  an  account  of  Captain  Barry's  having  lost  his 
frigate  two  days  after  he  sailed  from  Boston.  He 
engaged  a  British  32  gun  frigate  and  had  fought  her 
with  his  usual  bravery,  and  great  prospect  of  success ; 
his  men  and  officers  being  sworn  not  to  surrender; 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.  233 

when  a  64  gun  ship  came  up  and  put  an  end  to  the 
contest;  but  not  before  he  had  given  two  or  three 
such  fires  as  Barry's  situation,  relatively  to  the  British 
frigate,  allowed.  Our  brave  captain  then  avoided  vio 
lating  his  oath  by  running  his  ship  on  shoar  at  Seal 
island,  and  keeping  up  a  fire  from  four  guns  which  he 
brought  to  bear  in  his  stern,  'till  he  got  out  his  boats 
and  some  baggage.  He  made  his  escape  with  eighty 
hands ;  the  rest  were  to  shift  for  themselves  by  land 
ing.  Ten  who  concealed  themselves  have  escaped 
since;  one,  an  Englishman,  remained  on  board  and 
extinguished  the  fire  which  Barry  put  to  the  ship  in 
order  to  destroy  her,  by  which  means  she  was  saved, 
and  the  enemy  got  her  oft'. 

If  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette  goes  to  Europe,  it  is 
probable  that  he  will  take  a  great  many  of  his  coun 
trymen  with  him.  It  is  almost  certain  that  many  of 
them  will  be  very  troublesome  to  Congress  for  certifi 
cates.  Duplessis  applied  to  me  the  other  day  to 
obtain  him  a  furlough  for  Philadelphia,  and  to  give 
him  a  certificate  of  his  having  behaved  well  at  the 
battle  of  Monmouth,  that  he  might  go  and  signify  his 
design  to  Congress  of  retiring  from  service. 

I  replied  that  he  had  no  need  of  an  introduction  to 
the  President  if  he  had  any  business  with  Congress, 
that  he  already  had  a  most  honourable  certificate 
from  them,  and  that  if  he  wanted  a  final  certificate  at 
going  away,  the  Commander  in  chief  was  the  proper 

person  to  apply  to.     The  commissions  which  Congress 
30 


234  CORRESPONDENCE    OF   JOHN    LAURENS. 

have  applied  so  liberally  have  destroyed  the  value  of 
rank  which  is  the  ostensible  reward  of  merit,  and 
have  done  great  injustice  to  many  brave  and  experi 
enced  officers  who  have  found  themselves  on  a  par 
with,  or  but  one  remove  from  some  of  their  country 
men  who  had  no  pretensions  to  rank  of  any  kind. 
The  only  reparation  that  can  be  made,  and  it  is  but  a 
feeble  one,  is  to  be  sparing  in  the  testimonials  to  be 
given  at  their  departure,  and  to  make  a  pointed  diffe 
rence  between  those  which  are  given  to  men  of  real 
merit,  and  those  which  are  the  effect  only  of  political 
management. 

You  will  be  so  good  as  to  excuse  my  mentioning 
these  matters ;  they  have  occasioned  great  disgust  in 
foreigners  conscious  of  their  worth,  much  uneasiness 
in  our  native  officers,  and  have  brought  rank  into 
disgrace.  In  a  few  days  I  shall  have  an  opportunity 
of  speaking  more  fully  on  this  subject  and  many 
others  if  you  permit,  when  I  have  the  happiness  of 
embracing  you  in  Philadelphia.  I  am  anxious  to  re 
ceive  a  letter  from  you  in  the  meantime,  and  begin  to 
count  the  hours  which  are  to  precede  my  setting  out. 

My  dearest  friend  and  father, 

Adieu. 

JOHN  LATRENS. 

The  purchasing  commissioners  complain  of  the 
scarcity  of  Hour.  Some  persons  high  in  public  office, 
are  accused  of  the  detestable  crime  of  monopolizing. 


CORRESPONDENCE    OF    JOHN    LAURENS.          235 

Is  there  no  means  of  bringing  their  villainy  to  light, 
and  expelling  them  from  all  share  of  the  people's 
confidence. 

His  Excellency,  Henry  Laurens,  Esq., 

President  of  Congress,   Philadelphia. 
(Private). 

Fay*1  by  I.  Custis,  Esquire. 


INDEX 


Adams,  John,  on  death  of  Lau- 

rons,  39. 

Advertisements,  British,  66,  67. 
Affair  related  by  Cliev.  cle  Failly, 

95,  96. 

Africa,  wars  in,  for  slaves,  117. 
Amiable,  frigate,  movement  of, 

212. 
Albany,    Burgoyne's    orders     to 

advance  to,  63. 
Alemene,  frigate,  movement  of, 

212. 

Alliance  with  France,  167. 
Ambassadors,  mode  of  receiving, 

32. 
Ambition,  imputation  of,  denied, 

125. 

Ambuscade  by  British,  37,  38. 
American    code    of    public    law 

received,  89. 

Amphictionic  League,  90. 
Anspachers  embarked,  184. 
Argyle,  regiment  of  Duke  of,  226. 
Aristocracy  of   South   Carolina, 

-«  rvo 

17o. 

Army  crosses  Schuylkil],  93;  de 
plorable  condition  of,  135, 
136 ;  diminution  of  the,  27 ; 
inconvenience  of  vicinity  to, 
90;  movements  of,  82;  re 
cruited  and  supplied,  33 ; 
supply  of,  157. 

Articles  of  confederation,  Virginia 
assents  to,  123. 

Assault  at  Savannah,  26 ;  at  York- 
town,  34. 

Axe,  St.  Mary,  72. 


Babut  and  Labouchere,  letter 
under  cover  to,  72 ;  letters 
quoted,  105. 

Balcarras,  Lord,  repulsed,  64. 


Balfour,  Capt.,  arrives  in  New 
York,  226. 

Bannister,  Col.  favor  of,  acknow 
ledged,  222. 

Barber,  Col.,  at  Monmouth,  199. 

Barren  Hill,  meritorious  conduct 
at,  189. 

Barry,  Capt.,  success  of,  140;  fri 
gate  lost  by,  232. 

Batteries  opened  on  Fort  Miffliu, 
75,  76. 

Battery,  floating,  reported  as 
sunk,  73. 

Battle  of  Monmouth  described, 
193,  199 ;  of  Saratoga,  64. 

Bavaria,  death  of  elector  of,  161, 
163 ;  news  from,  188. 

Bayard  of  America,  45. 

Beaumarchais,  M.  de,  letter  re 
ceived  from,  188. 

Bedford,  Duchess  of,  18. 

Beresford's  circumstances,  225. 

Bergen,  enemy  beyond,  229. 

Berry,  articles  sent  for,  125 ;  re 
ceives  clothing,  94. 

Billingsport,  works  raxed  at,  89  ; 
desertions  from,  177. 

Black  battalion,  118,  120;  uni 
form  proposed  for,  120 ; 
scheme  abandoned,  124. 

Blacks,  as  levies,  42. 

Blake,  Mr.,  93. 

Bland's  regiment,  services  of  a 
detachment  from,  97. 

Blankets  destroyed  by  enemy,  187. 

Block  island,  French  fleet  at,  210. 

Boats  reported  captured,  73. 

Bohemia,  reported  war  in,  188. 

Bordeaux,  Laurens  sets  out  for,  22. 

Boston,  Col.  Laurens  returns  to, 
44;  French  fleet  repair  to, 
221 ;  unfortunate  quarrel  at, 
227. 


238 


INDEX. 


Boudinot,  Mr.,  asks  letter  of  in 
troduction,  80 ;  returns  from 
Germantown,  178 ;  story  told 
to,  180;  information  by,  182. 

Bounties  of  land  offered  recruits, 
66. 

Brevet  rank  of  Mons.  Duplessis, 
130. 

Breyman,  Lt.  Col.,  killed,  64. 

Bridge  thrown  over  at  Swedes 
Ford,  97. 

Brig  captured  by  Gen.  Small- 
wood,  99. 

Brigade  inspectors,  146. 

Brigades,  organization  of,  190. 

Bringlmrst,  letter  for,  125,  158, 
166 ;  billet  received  from,  153. 

Bristol,  movement  of  troops  at, 
211. 

British,  movement  of,  army,  179  ; 
peril  of,  97;  capture  Savan 
nah,  26;  besiege  Charleston, 
26  ;  capture  Charleston,  27 ; 
defeat  of,  at  Saratoga,  64; 
find  Laurens  unprepared,  37 ; 
foraging  party  of,  36 ;  prepa 
ration  of,  to  leave  country, 
36;  turn  their  attention  to 
southern  states,  25. 

British  bill  sent  by  Gov.  Try  on, 
162. 

British  fleet  appear  before  New 
port,  220. 

Brompton,  death  of  Mrs.  Savage 
at,  168. 

Bucks  county,  foraging  in,  128. 

Bullard,  Major,  surprise  at 
tempted  by,  127. 

Burgoyne,  news  of  surrender  of, 
61 ;  copy  of  letter  of,  63 ;  time 
of  surrender  of,  64 ;  army  of, 
91 ;  resolutions  concerning, 
110;  prisoners  of  army  of,  122; 
indulgence  granted  to,  139. 

Burke  speaks  in  House  of  Com 
mons,  18. 

Burton,  Col.,  information  from,  98. 

Butler,  Anthony,  letter  from,  183. 

Byron,  Admiral,  fleet  of,  injured 
by  storm,  223 ;  reported  arri 
val  of,  226 ;  sickness  of  crew 
of,  232. 


Camp,  fortifications  of,  135 ;   re 
moval  of,  182. 


Campbell,  Lady  W.,  visits  Mrs. 
Laurens,  168. 

Campus  Martins,  enlivened  scene 
at,  152. 

Canada,  intended  expedition  to, 
112,  113,  229,  230;  plan  for 
conquest  of,  230 ;  question  of 
rank  in  connection  with,  138. 

Cape  Francois,  Laurens's  return 
by  way 'of,  23. 

Carlisle,  Lord,  arrival  of,  178. 

Carriage  at  Philadelphia,  166. 

Cattle,  expedition  to  capture,  128 ; 
obtained  by  Gen.  Mclntosh, 
149. 

Cavalry,  difficulty  in  raising,  142 ; 
enemy  increase  their  force  of, 
187. 

Celebration  of  French  alliance, 
169. 

Ceremony,  recommended  for 
oaths,  174. 

Certificates  of  service  by  French 
officers,  233. 

Chaloner,  Mr.,  letter  sent  by,  126. 

Charlestown,  67 ;  British  besiege, 
25,  26,  58 ;  captured  by  Bri 
tish,  27,  43 ;  regrets  at  mis 
fortune  of,  130 ;  defeat  of  Sir 
Peter  Parker  at,  23. 

Chatham,  Lord,  reported  at  head 
of  administration,  161. 

Chehaw  Point,  affair  at,  37;  at 
tempt  to  intercept  enemy  at, 
37. 

Chesterfield,  Lord,  tutor  of,  183. 

Chestnut  Hill,  enemy  at,  60. 

Chew's  hoiise,  action  at,  24 ;  enemy 
seen  from,  63. 

Claim  of  grandson  of  Col.  Lau 
rens,  45. 

Clinton,  Sir  Henry,  besieges 
Charleston,  26 ;  captures 
Charleston,  27 ;  probable  ap 
pointment  of,  161 ;  probable 
plans  of,  172  ;  movement  of, 
174;  takes  command  of  Bri 
tish  army,  176 ;  crossing 
troops  into  Jerseys,  184 ; 
reply  to,  188 ;  escapes  capture 
through  fault  of  Gen.  Lee,  200. 

Cloth,  request  for,  130,  131,  168; 
received,  134. 

Clothing  captured,  99 ;  extreme 
want  of,  in  army,  135 ;  needed, 
119,  120,  131,  159,  160; 


INDEX. 


239 


Clothing  received,  80,  81,  88,  94, 
124, 125, 158 ;  requests  for,  105. 

Cochran,  Capt.,  goods  sent  by, 
105. 

Cochran  sails  for  America,  22. 

Code  of  public  law,  received,  89. 

Coffin  and  Anderson  preparing  to 
remove,  175. 

Colored  persons  recommended 
for  soldiers,  108, 114, 115, 116, 
117. 

Combahee,  British  attacked  on 
36. 

Combes,  Mr.,  intelligence  from, 
176. 

Commerce  illicit  with  enemy,  134. 

Commercial  letters,  French,  trans 
lations  of,  105. 

Commissariat  department,  defi 
ciencies  in,  98. 

Commissaries,  delinquency  of, 
120. 

Commissioners,  peace,  at  Phila 
delphia,  178,  179;  venture 
out  to  Germantown,  183; 
plans  of,  184,  185  ;  answer  of 
Congress  expected,  187; 
packing  up,  191. 

Commissioners  at  Germantown, 
152. 

Commissions  too  freely  given,  233. 

Committee  of  Congress,  114,  133 ; 
arrival  of,  92. 

Conciliation,  views  of  absurdity 
of,  181,  182 

Conde,  Prince  of,  71. 

Conduct  of  troops  at  Rhode 
Island,  25. 

Conference  at  Germantown,  re 
sult  of.  178. 

Confidence  betrayed,  225. 

Congress,  action  of,  awaited,  114 ; 
action  of,  concerning  Bur- 
goyne,  110;  action  on  peti 
tion  of  descendant  of  Col. 
Laurens,  41 ;  action  of,  soli 
cited,  144;  answer  to  British 
commissioners  expected,  187, 
188 ;  applies  to  France  for 
aid,  28 ;  arrival  of  committee 
of,  92;  blamed  for  promoting 
Col.  Wilkinson,  83  ;  censured 
for  certain  orders,  154 ;  Col. 
du  Portail's  visit  to,  73 ;  com 
mittee  of,  114;  dignified  ac 
tion  of,  181 ; 


Congress,  expected  action  to 
wards  peace  commissioners 
184,  185;  express  sent  to, 
180;  failure  of,  to  inform 
commander  in  chief,  170 ; 
injustice  of,  towards  army 
officers,  155 ;  in  relation  to 
Count  Pulaski,  141,  142;  in 
relation  to  commissary  de 
partment,  126 ;  Lafayette 
wishes  to  influence,  "230; 
measures  suggested  for  ac 
tion  of,  156,  157;  memorial 
from,  delivered  to  the  king, 
33 ;  offers  promotion  to  Col. 
Laurens,  40 ;  orders  Gen. 
Gates  to  confer  with  Gen. 
Washington,  164;  president 
Laurens  proposes  leaving, 
137  ;  probable  annoyance  of, 
in  giving  certificates,  233 ; 
reduction  in  number  of,  123 ; 
report  of  committee  of,  re 
ceived,  162;  resolves  to  em 
ploy  no  more  foreign  officers, 
147 ;  request  for  papers  con 
cerning,  181 ;  resolution  of, 
concerning  Col.  Flcury,  118; 
rewards  Capt.  Lee  of  dra 
goons,  150;  tenders  promo 
tion  to  Laurens,  42;  unjust 
promotions  by,  121 ;  unplea 
sant  suspicions  concerning 
action  of,  133. 

Cononicut  island  passage,  211 ; 
enemy  in  possession  of,  213 ; 
plan  for  capture  of,  213,  214 ; 
reconnoitred,  215. 

Constitution  of  South  Carolina, 
rumored  change  of,  173 ;  limi 
tation  of  powers  of,  153,  154. 

Continental  forces,  proposed  in 
crease  by  negroes,  108,  114, 
115. 

Convention,  Burgoyne's,  65,  66. 

Convoy  driven  back  by  galleys,  74. 

Conway,  Gen.,  promotion  of, 
offensive,  100;  intends  to  re 
turn  to  France,  101 ;  charged 
with  cowardice,  102 ;  con 
duct  of,  180;  intrigue  of,  102, 
103,  104,  113;  low  opinion 
of,  104;  obnoxious,  132. 

Coosohatchie,  defense  of  the,  25. 

Cope,  a  lad  said  to  be  a  British 
ensign,  123. 


240 


INDEX. 


Cormvallis,  Lord,  arrival  of,  178 ; 
at  Monmouth,  200,  202 ;  cap 
tured,  34 ;  foraging  of  army 
of,  94,  95,  96;  preparations 
against,  81,  82. 

Corruption,  fatal  tendencies  to 
wards,  173. 

Countenance  of  Gen.  Washing 
ton,  138. 

Court  martial,  probable  action  of, 
129. 

Cowardice  of  Gen.  Conway,  102. 

Craig,  Capt.,  affair  of,  73. 

Crisis  in  national  affairs,  28. 

Cross  roads,  letter  dated  at,  57. 

Crouch,  Mr.,  67. 

Culloden  ship  arrives,  226. 

Custis,  Mr.,  232. 


Deane,  Silas,  employs  vessels  in 
France,  22. 

Deans,  Mr.,  suit  against,  14,  15. 

D'Arendt,  Baron,  introduced,  209 ; 
information  concerning,  109. 

Death  of  elector  of  Bavaria,  101, 
163. 

De  Cambray,  Chevalier,  letter 
sent  by,  191. 

DC  Cottineau,  Mr.,  present  from, 
to  Gen.  Washington,  193. 

D'Estaing,  Count,  41,  26  ;  at  siege 
of  Savannah,  42 ;  in  a  naval 
affair.  228 ;  Laurens  sent  to, 
205,  207,  209 ;  writes  in  favor 
ofLaFayette,  218. 

De  Faill v,  Chevalier,  affair  alluded 
to  by,  95,  96, 

Defense  by  Capt.  Lee's  troop,  111 ; 
by  Squire  Knox,  128. 

Degradation  of  slavery,  115,  116, 
117. 

De  Grace,  Count,  at  Newport,  212. 

De  Holzendorff,  Baron,  letter  re 
ceived  from,  223. 

De  la  Balme,  books  by,  144. 

Delancy,  Capt.,  attempted  sur 
prise  by, 111. 

Dela  plane,  J.,  advertisements  of,67, 

Delaware,  expedition  crosses,  128. 

Delaware,  frigate,  intercepts  gal 
leys,  85 ;  frigate,  guns  re 
moved  from,  88 ;  prizes  in 
the,  110;  success  of  recruit 
ing  in,  140;  successful  affair 
on  the,  140 ;  troops  cross,  184. 


De  Miralles  Don  Juan,  inquiries 
concerning,  216. 

De  Murnant,  Mr.,  request  con 
cerning,  144. 

De  Neuville,  Chevalier,  opinions 
concerning,  110 ;  letters  re 
specting,  170,  171. 

Derby,  enemy  near,  97. 

De  Noaillcs,  Viscount,  44 ;  decla 
ration  of,  171. 

Deserter,  Cope,  123,  124. 

Deserters,  admission  into  army, 
142 ;  among  militia,  129 ; 
from  enemy,  70, 139, 198,  201, 
202,  204 ;  information  by,  128, 
152,  159,  176,  179,  184,  192, 
216,  222,  228,  231,  232;  par 
dons  offered  to,  67. 

Dickinson,  Gen.,  descent  of,  upon 
Staten  Island,  92. 

Donop,  Count,  affair  of,  68;  re 
pulse  of,  101. 

Doughty, Capt.,  at  Monmouth,  199. 

Drayton,  Mr.,  compliments  to, 
159 ;  excuses  to,  199  ;  Mr.,  in 
telligence  expected  from,  173. 

Duel  between  Col.  Laurens  and 
Gen,  Lee,  39,  42 ;  pretended 
occurrence  of,  124. 

Du  Plessis,  Chevalier  de  Maudit, 
106,  107,  120,  121;  applies 
for  furlough,  233;  books 
given  by,  141,  144;  disap 
pointed  in  commission,  120 ; 
leaves  camp,  123 ;  promises 
to,  101 ;  word  sent  by,  124. 

Duponceau,  Mr.,  claims  of,  148. 

Du  Portail,  favorable  opinions  of, 
143 ;  letter  by,  75,  143,  145 ; 
opinions  of,  on  defense  of  fort, 
82  ;  request  of,  144  ;  visit  of, 
to  congress,  73. 

Durand,  Mesnil,  book  by,  141. 


Eagle,  packet,  captured,  73. 

Eagle,  ship,  at  Philadelphia,  176. 

Earthquake  felt  at  Philadelphia, 
86. 

East  Town,  handbills  found  at,  78. 

Eden,  Mr.,  arrival  of,  178. 

Emancipation  of  slaves  for  mili 
tary  service,  108,  116,  117. 

Empress  of  Russia,  ship,  79. 

Enemy  razing  works  at  Red  Bank, 
89 ;  supplies  of,  62. 


INDEX. 


241 


Engineer  at  lied  Bank,  106. 

England,  war  with  France,  171. 

Englishtown,    letter   from,  193 ; 
movement  to,  193. 

Epaulettes  received,  159. 

Etiquette  of  French  court,  32,  44. 

European  war  probable,  161. 

Eutaw,  final  battle  at,  36. 

Examples,  threats  of  making,  189. 

Exchange  of  prisoners  proposed, 
122;  123. 

Exhaustion  of  army,  27;   of  re 
sources,  28. 

Expedition,  naval,  135. 

Expedition  to  Canada  intended, 
112,  113. 


Factions,  intrigues  of,  113. 

Failley,  Chevalier,  intends  for 
York,  92. 

Fascines  supplied  from  Red  Bank, 
77. 

Ferguson,  Dr.,  secretary  of  com 
mission,  183. 

Fire,  Charleston  suffers  from,  130, 
134. 

Fire  ships,  85. 

Fitzgerald,  Col.,  introduced,  119. 

Fleet  of  English  wood  boats 
escape  capture,  215 ;  errone 
ous  report  concerning,  152, 
180. 

Fleury,  Mr.,  applies  for  aid  of 
militia,  214;  engineer  at  Fort 
Mercer,  76,  77;  introduced, 
118;  letters  from,  inclosed, 
98;  solicits  promotion,  120, 
121. 

Flour,  scarcity  of,  234. 

Forasre,  deplorable  scarcity  of, 
127. 

Foraging  of  enemy,  94,  95,  100, 
229,  232 ;  party  crosses 
Schuylkill,  97 ;  dispersed,  68  ; 
supplies  obtained  by,  127, 128. 

Foreigners,  prejudices  against, 
203. 

Formality  of  French  court,  32, 44. 

Forman,  Gen.,  introduced,  206. 

Forsyth,  Mr.,  letters  sent  by,  60. 

Fort  Mercer  blown  up,  107;  de 
fense  of,  75,  76 ;  destroyed  by 
enemy,  81 ;  engineer  at,  101  ; 
General  Yarnum  near,  75 ; 
thought  to  be  tenable,  76. 

31 


Fort  Mifflin  evacuated,  78, 79,  81 ; 
expected  attack  on,  73 ;  flag 
still  up  at,  77 ;  officer  in  com 
mand  at,  109 ;  passage  by, 
62 ;  siege  of,  75. 

Fort  Washington  abandoned, 
177. 

France,  enthusiasm  on  account  of 
war,  171 ;  favorable  moment 
for,  166,  167 ;  favorable  news 
from,  165 ;  new  appeals  to, 
28 ;  news  from,  68 ;  opinions 
relative  to  war  of,  178 ;  plans 
of,  84;  pretensions  of,  to 
Canada,  230,  231 ;  probable 
course  of,  in  American  affairs, 
21,  22. 

Francis,  Mr.,  bearer  of  letters,  152, 
165. 

Franklin,  Dr.,  absurd  rumor  con 
cerning,  180 ;  a  colleague  of 
H.  Laurens,  9 ;  discourages 
direct  appeal  to  the  king,  31 ; 
interview  of  Laurens  with, 
21,  30;  jealousy  of,  30;  letter 
of  recommendation  given  by, 
68;  proposed  gift  in  hands 
of,  137. 

Freneau,  Philip,  40 ;  lines  by,  on 
the  death  of  Col.  Laurens, 
55. 

French  aid  solicited,  28  ;  assist  in 
capture  of  Cornwallis,  34; 
grammatical  criticism  in,  130 ; 
retire  from  the  coast,  26 ; 
sailors  quarrel  with,  227, 228  ; 
translations  from,  105  ;  troops 
in  West  Indies  227  ;  to  be 
sent  to  Canada,  230. 

French  and  American  forces  re 
pulsed  at  Savannah,  26. 

French  fleet,  arrival  of,  26 ;  can 
nonade  Newport,  219;  diffi 
culties  encountered  by,  207 ; 
dispersed  by  a  storm,  221  ; 
passes  Newport  batteries, 
220 ;  peril  of,  223 ;  repair  to 
Boston,  221 ;  renders  water 
route  to  New  York  perilous, 
177;  wants  of,  216. 

French  islands,  supposed  object 
of  movement,  222,  223. 

French  war,  reports  of,  161 ;  ru 
mors  circulated  concerning, 
106. 

Frey,  Baron,  letter  by,  68,  69,  75. 


242 


INDEX. 


Galleys  alone  can  oppose  enemy, 
62 ;  attempt  to  pass  Philadel 
phia,  85  ;  canonacliug  by,  69, 
70 ;  drive  back  a  convoy,  74. 

Galvan,  Mr.,  affair  of,  223,  224. 

Gates,  Gen.,  friend  of  Conwajr, 
180 ;  surrender  to,  64 ;  to 
confer  with  Gen.  Washing 
ton,  164;  transactions  with 
Gen.  Conway,  102. 

Geneva,  acquaintance  formed  at, 
183;  Laurensat,  10,  11,  12. 

Georgia,  attempt  to  recover  capi 
tal  of,  26 ;  enemy's  attention 
turned  to,  25 ;  invasion  of, 
42  ;  operations  in,  24. 

Germaine,  Lord  George,  18. 

German  troops  arrive  at  Phila 
delphia,  152 ;  in  Continental 
service,  109. 

Germantown,  Com.  meet  at,  152, 
158 ;  Gen.  Conway  charged 
with  cowardice  at,  102,  180 ; 
Gen.  Howe  to  meet  commis 
sioners  at,  146 ;  enemy  near, 
60,  63 ;  Lanrens  in  battle  of, 
24 ;  Laurens's  position  since, 
93 ;  letter  sent  by  way  of, 
126;  military  value  of,  83; 
peace  commissioners  at,  183 ; 
result  of  conference  at,  178 ; 
returns  of  horses,  etc.,  67. 

Gervaise,  Col.,  letter  inclosed  to, 
67,  165. 

Gibraltar,  proposed  cession  of,  84. 

Gibbes,  Capt.,  at  Lancaster,  159; 
failure  of,  to  make  purchase, 
165. 

Gorshen,expedition  by  way  of,  128. 

Gower,  Lord,  18. 

Grant,  Gen.,  escapes  a  court  mar 
tial,  187. 

Grave,  siege  of,  71. 

Gray,  Gen.  return  of  troops  of, 
226. 

Great  Britain,  terms  with,  167. 

Greene,  Gen.,  arrival  of,  217,  232; 
at  Rhode  Island,  41 ;  com 
mands  army  in  the  south,  34 ; 
foraging  by,  127;  information 
from,  227,  228  ;  joins  grand 
army,  89;  news  from,  87; 
prepared  to  fight  Cornwallis, 
81,  82;  regret  of,  at  death  of 
Laurens,  38;  sends  expedi 
tion  to  destroy  hay,  128. 


Halifax,  garrison  at,  226. 

Half  pay  system  favored  by  Wash 
ington,  158 ;  remarks  con 
cerning,  156. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  29 ;  ap 
pointed  to  meet  Gen.  Howe, 
146 ;  laments  the  death  of 
Laurens,  38;  letter  from  son 
of,  40,  41 ;  sick,  92. 

Hamilton,  Duke  of,  regiment  at 
Quebec,  226. 

Hamilton,. John  C., letter  of,  40, 41. 

Handbills  found,  78 ;  sent  to  Gov. 
Tryon,  162 ;  thrown  out  by 
enemy,  159. 

Harrison,  Col.,  appointed  to  meet 
Gen.  Howe,  146. 

Harrison ,  Mr. ,  bearer  of  letters,  61 . 

Hartly,  Col.,  delay  of,  166. 

Hartly,  Mrs.,  72, 

Hat  stolen  from  servant,  58. 

Hay,  expedition  to  destroy,  128. 

Hayne,  Robert  Y.,40;  speech  of, 
45. 

Henderson,  Francis,  jr.,  petition 
of,  41. 

Hessians,  action  against,  107; 
attacked,  87;  captured,  97; 
in  Philadelphia,  191 ;  killed, 
128. 

Highlanders  in  Philadelphia,  191. 

Hog  island,  shallow  channel  by, 

Holland,  commission  to  engage 
transports,  84;  letter  inclosed 
from,  99. 

Horry,  Mr.,  59. 

Horses,  advice  to  present  to 
Baron  Steuben,  160;  as  a 
reward  to  Col.  Wilkinson, 
83;  collected  by  enemy,  192; 
returns  of,  67;  wanted,  59; 
killed  by  enemy,  205. 

Howe,  Admiral,  fleet  of,  appears, 
220. 

Howe,  Sir  William,  68;  arrives 
in  New  York,  226;  asks  re 
inforcements,  68:  blamed  by 
Gov.  Johnston,  188;  caution 
of,  139;  commissioners  ap 
pointed  to  meet,  146;  enter 
tainment  in  honor  of,  175; 
expected  retreat  of,  166 ;  ex 
pedition  suggested,  84 ;  for 
aging  party  of,  97 ;  in  a  naval 
affair,  228;  intentions  of,  90; 


INDEX. 


243 


Hcnvc,  Sir  William,  innovation 
in  speech  of,  79  ;  leaves  Phil 
adelphia,  176;  letter  from, 
mentioned,  122,  189;  letter 
to,  63;  movements  of,  151, 
174;  negligence  of,  136; 
precautions  of,  concerning 
prisoners,  139  ;  preparations 
to  meet,  152;  prisoners  in 
hands  of,  61 ;  probability  of 
recall  of,  161 ;  supposed  plans 
of,  172. 

Huguenot  origin  of  Laurens,  29. 

Humphrey's  Gazette,  copy  of, 
sent,  68. 


Imposture  attempted  by  a  de 
serter,  124. 

Independence,  acknowledgment 
of,  hoped,  163. 

Inspector  general,  question  con 
cerning,  138. 

Inspector  general's  department, 
146. 

Insult  offered  to  commander  in 
chief,  102. 

Intrigue  of  Gen.  Conway,  102, 113. 

Invalids  embarked  by  the  enemy, 
139. 


Jackson,  Col.,  conduct  at  Rhode 
Island,  25. 

Jackson's  regiment   sent  to  join 
French  troops,  219. 

Jagers,  Hessian,  action  with,  194. 

Jameson,  Major,  service  of,  111. 

Jay,  John,  a  colleague  of  II.  Lau 
rens,  9. 

Jealousies  between  French  and 
Americans,  220,  228. 

Jealousy  between  naval  and  land 
service,  62. 

Jerseys,    enemy   have    quit,   89 ; 
enemy's  march  through,  192  ; 
expected    retreat   of  enemy 
through,  182 ;  expedition  in 
to,  128 ;   forage  collected  by  ! 
enemy  in,  231 ;  probable  re-  | 
treat  of  enemy  through,  187.  ! 

Johnston,  Gov.,   arrival  of,  178;  i 
letter    received    from,    183;  ' 
regarded  as  an  apostate,  184 ;  I 
report  corrected  in  relation 
to,  188. 


Jones,    R.    Strettle,    intelligence 

from,  161. 
Journal  of  operations  before  New- 

'    port,  219,  221. 
Justice    of  claims  of  Laurens's 

family,  45,  51,  52. 


Kingfisher,  sloop,  burned,  212. 

Kingsbridgc,  enemy  pass,  229; 
enemy  keep  within,  232. 

Kings  ferry,  probable  place  of 
crossing  Hudson,  204. 

Kinloch's  late  return  to  America, 
225. 

Kite,  a  comic  character,  79. 

Kitean,  harrangue  of  Sir  William 
Howe  at,  68. 

Knighthood,  exhibition  of,  cere 
monies  of,  172. 

Knox,  Squire,  defense  by,  128. 

Ivnypliausen,  Gen.,  badge  of 
knighthood  captured,  141. 


La  Fayette,  Marquis  de,  112; 
affair  with  Gen.  Grant,  187; 
arrival  of,  217 ;  aspiration  at 
command,  217, 218 ;  censured, 
218 ;  introduces  Marquis  de 
la  Vienne,  203 ;  leaves  camp, 
123 ;  news  from,  87 ;  plans 
for  Canadian  expedition,  230  ; 
probability  of  return  to 
France,  233;  regrets  the 
death  of  Laurens,  38;  retreat 
of,  174;  sympathy  for  a  de 
serter,  124 ;  two  British  cap 
tains  killed  in  combat  of,  89. 

Lamb,  galley,  burned,  212. 

Lancaster,  Capt.  Gibbes  at,  159. 

Land,  bounties  offered  in,  66. 

La  Tactique  de  Ghibert,  book 
entitled,  141. 

Laurens,  Henry,  letter  of  John 
Adams  to,  on  death  of  his 
son,  39 ;  offices  held  by,  9 ; 
proposes  to  retire  from  con 
gress,  137 ;  relations  of,  with 
Washington,  23 ;  urged  to 
remain  in  congress,  145,  148, 
149, 150, 155, 225  ;  welfare  of, 
74. 

Laurens,  Lieut.  Col.  John,  active 
service  of,  in  the  field,  24; 
ancestors  of,  9 ; 


244 


INDEX. 


Laurons,  Lieut.  Col.  John,  arrives 
in  Paris,  30. 47 ;  at  the  capture 
of'Cormvallis,  34, 44;  at  siege 
of  Charleston,  26  ;  birth  and 
education,  10 ;  captured  at 
Charleston,  43 ;  character  of, 
39,  40,  46;  commands  in 
fantry  in  siege  of  Savannah, 
26;  conduct  of,  at  Khode 
Island,  25 ;  correspondence 
of,  56 ;  decides  upon  a  pro 
fession,  12,  16 ;  domestic  be 
reavement  of  his  family,  20  ; 
early  traits  of  character,  16, 
17  ;  elected  to  legislature,  92  ; 
eulogies  on,  40,  41,  42,  45,  54 ; 
family  of,  40,  50 ;  fitness  of, 
for  mission,  29,  47;  goes  on 
express  to  Philadelphia,  43  ; 
hardy  enterprise  of,  36 ;  in 
terview  with  Franklin,  30; 
joins  army  under  Greene,  34 ; 
joins  forces  under  Moultrie, 
25;  joins  Washington's  mili 
tary  family,  23;  justice  of 
claims  of  heirs  of,  45,  51,  52; 
killed,  38,  40,  48;  letter  of 
John  C.  Hamilton,  41 ;  letter 
to  his  sister,  18 ;  lines  on  the 
death  of,  55 ;  memoir  of,  9 ; 
military  qualifications  of,  35 ; 
obtains  leave  to  repair  south, 
25 ;  of  French  origin,  29 ; 
patriotic  impulses  of,  17; 
performs  his  purpose,  32,  44  ; 
receives  a  present  from  the 
king,  33,  47 ;  receives  the 
sword  of  Cornwallis,  34 ;  re 
flections  upon,  34 ;  regrets  at 
the  death  of,  38,  39  ;  rejoins 
the  grand  army,  27 ;  resolves 
to  appeal  to  the  king,  31,  44 ; 
resolves  to  return  to  Ame 
rica,  21 ;  result  of  applica 
tion  to  Vergennes,  31,  43 ; 
returns  to  America,  34,  44 ; 
returns  to  South  Carolina, 
23 ;  sent  on  mission  to 
France,  28,  29, 43,  47 ;  speech 
of  Mr.  Hayne  in  favor  of 
relief  of  grandson  of,  45 ; 
surprised  at  Chehaw  Point, 
37;  takes  an  interest  in 
public  affairs,  18;  testimony 
of  enemies,  39;  wounded, 
25. 


Laurcns,  Mrs.,  67;  expected  ar 
rival,  93. 

La  Vienne,  Marquis  de  la,  intro 
duction  of,  203. 

Law,  American  code  of,  received, 
89. 

Law,  decision  of  Laurensin  study 
of,  16. 

Lee,  Capt.,  brilliant  exploit  of 
troop  of,  111 ;  disperses  a  fo 
raging  party,  68 ;  letter  from, 
74;  prisoners  captured  by, 
73 ;  rewarded,  150. 

Lee,  Col.,  comparison  with,  35; 
regrets  the  death  of  Laurens, 
38. 

Lee,  Gen.  Charles,  conduct  of,  at 
Monmouth,  24,  193,  194,  195, 
196,  197,  198,  199  ;  duel  with 
Laurens,  42 ;  expected  at 
dinner,  154;  prisoner  quar 
tered  with,  186;  wounded  in 
duel  witli  Col.  Laurens,  39. 

Letter  attributed  to  Gen.  Bur- 
goyne  noticed,  110;  Bur- 
goyne  to  Sir  William  Howe, 
63 ;  from  John  C.  Hamilton, 
41 ;  mistake  in  dates  of,  181  ; 
Sir  William  Howe,  by  Bur- 
goyne,  63. 

Light  Horse  Harry,  35. 

Lincoln,  Gen.,  attempts  to  recover 
Savannah,  26;  besieged  at 
Charleston,  26;  captured  at 
Charleston,  27;  joined  by 
C'ol.  Laurens,  42;  troops 
under,  retire  from  Savannah, 
26. 

Lindsay,  Corporal,  service  of,  111. 

Livingston,  Col.  H.  B.,  conduct 
of,  at  Rhode  Island,  25. 

Livingston,  Col.,  at  Monmouth, 
199. 

Livingston,  Lt.  Col.,  conduct  of, 
at  Rhode  Island,  25. 

Loan  obtained  in  France,  33. 

Long  Island,  wood  boats  from, 
escape  capture,  215. 

Loring,  Mr.,  commissioner  at  Ger- 
mantown,  178 ;  story  told  by, 
180. 

Louis  XVI,  appeal  of  Laurens  to, 
32,  33 ;  enthusiasm  in  favor 
of,  169;  presents  a  snuff-box 
to  Laurens,  33,  47;  receives 
memorial  from  Laurens,  44. 


INDEX. 


245 


Lovcl,   Gen.,  conduct  at  Ilhode 

Island,  25. 
Luxuries,  taxes  upon,  156,  157. 


Mclntosh,  Gen.,  98 ;  ordered  to  a 
certain  service,  145 ;  returns 
of,  149 ;  sends  papers,  160. 

McLane,  Capt.,  letter  received 
from,  192;  sends  in  a  pri 
soner,  186. 

Maga/ine  of  Fort  Mercer  ex 
ploded,  107. 

Manning,  Mr.,  letters  from,  145, 
183;  news  from  family  of, 
168. 

Manning-,  Mrs.,  letter  enclosed 
from,  99. 

Margrave  de  Baden,  rank  of  Steu- 
ben  in  troops  of,  137. 

Marion,  warfare  of,  34,  35. 

Marseilles,  relative  of  Laurens  at, 
168. 

Marseilles,  ship,  dismantled  in  a 
storm,  221. 

Meat,  scarcity  of,  127. 

Memoir  of  Col.  John  Laurens,  9. 

Memoranda,  on  back  of  letter,  61. 

Memorial  from  congress  delivered 
to  the  king,  33  ;  presented  to 
king,  44. 

Middletown,  rear  of  enemy  at,  201. 

Mifflin,  Gen.,  at  the  head  of  a 
party  against  commander  in 
chief,  103;  friend  of  Conway, 
180;  will  forward  letters,  60. 

Military  uniform,  120. 

Militia,  conduct  of,  at  Ilhode 
Island,  25. 

Miniature  painter,  in  camp,  139. 

Mischianza,  entertainment,  175. 

Mission  to  France,  28;  success 
of,  33. 

Moncton,  Col.,  killed  at  Mon- 
mouth,  198;  burial  of,  203. 

Money  obtained  from  France,  33 ; 
pressing  need  of,  28. 

Monmouth,  account  of  battle  of, 
193,  194,  195,  196,  197,  198, 
199  ;  distinction  of  officers  at, 
202;  Duplessis  at  battle  of, 
233;  Laurens  at  battle  of,  24, 
42. 

Monopolies,  detestable  charges  of, 
234. 


Morgan,  Col.,  intelligence  from, 
201 ;  letter  by,  69 ;  letter  to, 
care  of,  72 ;  reports  from,  205. 

Morgan's  corps,  news  from,  87. 

Morris,  Robert,  financial  service 
of,  33,  44 ;  letter  addressed 
to,  68 ;  letter  enclosed  from, 
193. 

Moultrie,  Laurens  joins  forces  of, 
24,  25 ;  regrets  the  death  of 
Laurens,  38. 

Moylan's  Light  Dragoons,  affair 
of,  73. 

Muhlenberg,  Gen.,  commanding 
Germans,  109. 

Mud  island,  chances  of  defense  at, 
79;  loss  of  fort  at,  84 ;  naked 
ness  of  army,  135. 


Naval  action,  70 ;  by  Capt,  Barry. 
232;  naval  expedition,  135. 

Navy,  blame  thrown  upon,  79 ; 
misbehavior  of,  88. 

Negroes  recommended  as  sol 
diers,  108,  114,115,  116,  117. 

New  Brunswick,  letter  dated 
near,  200. 

New  England,  Burgoyne's  troops 
sent  to,  65. 

New  Orleans,  letter  by  way  of,  72. 

Newport,  British  ships  arrive  at, 
226;  force  of  the  enemy  at, 
211  ;  fortifications  of,  215 ; 
French  fleet  at,  219,  220; 
plans  for  attack  of,  210,  211, 
212. 

New  Town,  commissioners  at,  158 

New  York,  British  will  probably 
retain,  227;  force  to  be  kept 
near,  164;  intelligence  from, 
177 ;  Mrs.  Washington  at, 
110;  preparations  in,  225; 
preparations  for  retreat  to, 
176,  177;  probable  evacua 
tion  of,  229 ;  proposed  move 
ment  towards,  206;  relative 
importance  of,  164 ;  rumors 
of  evacuation  of,  228 ;  troops 
from,  at  Philadelphia,  152. 

Newspapers,  extracts  from,  84 ; 
from  South  Carolina,  149. 

Nichols,  Capt,,  brought  to  head 
quarters,  73 ;  not  returned 
from  Philadelphia,  99 ;  pre 
sent  at  an  affair,  112. 


246 


INDEX. 


North,  Lord,  plans  of,  172 ;  pro 
bable  result  of  action  of,  163  ; 
recantation  of,  received,  161. 

North  Carolina,  enemy's  atten 
tion  turned  to,  25  ;  operations 
in,  24. 

North  Carolinians  in  •winter  quar 
ters,  100. 


Oath  of  allegiance  taken  by  offi 
cers,  173. 

Oaths,  request  for  blank  forms  of, 
168. 

Ophelia,  language  quoted,  40. 

Ormond,  remark  of  Duke  of,  39. 

Ossory,  remark  to  Earl  of,  39. 

Oswald,  Col.,  at  Monmouth,  199. 

Outline  of  operations  planned, 
84. 

Overtures  of  peace,  strictures  up 
on,  162. 


Paper  money,  redemption  of,  86 ; 

discredit  thrown  upon,  87. 
Pardons,  insolent  offers  of,  166; 

offered  deserters,  67 ;  offered, 

and  their  effect,  162. 
Paris,  Laurens  arrives  in,  30. 
Parker,  Hear  Admiral,  fleet  of, 

223. 

Parker,  Sir  Peter,  defeat  of,  23. 
Parliamentary    Register,    recent 

numbers  of,  188. 
Partisan  warfare  in  south,  34,  35, 

36. 

Patience  of  the  army,  136. 
Patriotism,  ardent  expressions  of, 

110,  111. 

Paulus  Hook,  enemy  at,  229. 
Pay  of  officers  inadequate,  157, 

158. 

Payne,  Mr.,  letter  by,  122. 
Peace,  rumored  overtures  of,  159. 
Peace  commissioners,  arrival  of, 

178,  179 ;  last  effort  of,  231 ; 

supposed  plans  of,  227. 
Pennsylvania,  flour  wanted  from, 

216. 
Petition  of  Laurens  to  the  king, 

32 ;  success  of,  33. 
Philadelphia,   Capt.    Nichols    at, 

99;    carriage    at,    166;    Col. 

Laurens  rides  on  express  to, 

13;  conjectures  at,  74; 


Philadelphia,  gallant  defense  of 
Squire  Knox  in,  128 ;  enemy 
at,  100;  expected  evacuation 
of,  172  ;  Gazette,  news  from, 
174;  inhabitants  leaving,  77; 
movement  towards,  60;  news 
from,  84, 152, 161, 175 ;  packet 
received  from,  183;  papers 
sent,  159;  partly  evacuated, 
192  ;  peace  commissioners  at, 
179;  prizes  taken  near,  110; 
provisions  scarce  in,  189;  re 
ports  circulated  at,  106 ;  re 
turns  of  horses,  67 ;  show  of 
movement  from,  96. 

Pickens,  military  genius  of,  34. 

Pickets  attacked,  87. 

Pilots,  need  of,  205. 

Pinckney,  Col.,  61. 

Pinckney,  Mr.,  59. 

Point  Judith,  Col.  Laurens  at, 
210. 

Policy  of  an  expedition  to  Canada, 
113. 

Pond,  narrowly  escapes  capture, 
74. 

Pontieres,  M.,  secretary  to  Baron 
Steubcn,  148. 

Portrait,  receipt  of,  138. 

Potter,  Gen.,  information  from, 
97. 

Potter's  militia,  95 ;  demonstration 
by,  81. 

Pottsgrove,  letter  dated  at,  60. 

Predatory  incursion  of  British, 
36,  37. 

Prejudice  against  negro  soldiers, 
115. 

Present  to  Gen.  Washington,  193. 

Prevost,  Gen.,  25. 

Prisoners,  American,  61 ;  cap 
tured,  73;  escape  of,  139; 
exchange  of,  99  ;  negociation 
for  exchange  of,  146,  178; 
proposed  aid  to,  137;  pro 
posed  exchange  of,  122,  123  ; 
treated  with  cm  elty,77. 

Princes  Bay,  boats  collected  at, 
182. 

Princess  Royal,  arrival  of  ship, 
at  Sandy  Hook,  226. 

Privateers,  increasing  number  of, 
127  ;  service  of,  172. 

Prizes  in  the  Delaware,  110; 
taken  on  the  Delaware,  140 ; 
from  British,  208. 


INDEX. 


247 


Promotion  of  Gen.  Conway,  offens 
ive,  100 ;  of  Col.  Wilkinson, 
offensive,  83 ;  recommended 
for  Mons.  Dn  Plessis,  107. 

Protection  of  Philadelphia,  ques 
tion  of,  176. 

Providence,  Col.  Laurens  arrives 
at,  210. 

Province  Island,  enemy  on,  70; 
enemy  land  from,  81 ;  pas 
sage  by,  62,  76,  77;  storm 
expected  from,  76. 

Provisions,  scarcity  of,  126. 

Prussia,  king  of,  said  to  be  in 
Bohemia,  188 ;  services  in  the 
army  of,  109. 

Prussian  rank  of  Baron  Steubeu, 
137. 

Pulaski,  Count,  corps  of,  142 ; 
dislike  against,  141 ;  favora 
ble  opinions  of,  142,  143  ;  let 
ter  by,  141. 

Quarter     masters,    inquiry    into 

conduct  of,  185. 
Quebec,  garrison  at,  226. 
Queen's  Rangers,  capture  of,  68. 
Quotas,  deficiencies  of  the,  191. 

Rank,  considerations  respecting, 
83 ;  disgraced,  234 ;  of  Baron 
Steuben,  160 ;  of  Baron  Steu- 
ben  in  Prussia,  137;  ofM.  de 
Xeuville,  171. 

Raritan,  pleasant  location  at,  201. 

Reading,  influence  of  an  officer 
at,  100 ;  orders,  in  case  of 
removal  from,  60. 

Rebenhaupt,  General,  71. 

Recantation  of  Lord  North  re 
ceived,  161. 

Reception  of  ambassadors,  32. 

Recommendation  of  Chevalier  de 
Maudit  de  Plessis,  106,  107. 

Reconciliation  of  Count  D'Es- 
taing,  41. 

Recruiting  in  Delaware,  140. 

Recruits,  drill  of,  152. 

Red  Bank,  adverse  tidings  from, 
78 ;  defense  of,  77 ;  enemy's 
account  of,  84;  engineer  at, 
106  ;  fascines  supplied  from, 
77 ;  Gen.  Varnum  at,  75 ;  re 
inforcements  at,  63 ;  works 
ra/ed  at,  89. 


Reed,  Gen.,  recent  gazettes  in 
hands  of,  188. 

Refugees,  surrender  of,  177. 

Regiments,  difficulty  in  organiza 
tion  of,  190;  reforming  of, 
186. 

Reid,  Mr.,  letter  received  from, 
223. 

Reinforcements  solicited  from 
England,  68. 

Retreat  of  enemy  expected,  175 ; 
probable  route,  182. 

Rhode  Island,  British  will  pro 
bably  hold,  227;  Col.  Lau 
rens  at,  41 ;  conduct  of  troops 
in  action  on,  25 ;  deserters 
from,  216 ;  entrances  to,  211 ; 
Gen.  Sullivan's  plan  at,  217  ; 
probable  evacuation  of,  229  ; 
service  of  Laurens  in,  24. 

Richmond,  Harry,  at,  168. 

Richmond,  ship,  at  Philadelphia, 
178. 

Robinson,  Capt.,  letter  sent  by, 
78. 

Rochambeau  assists  in  capturing 
Cornwallis,  34. 

Roebuck,  ship,  cannonading  by, 
69,  70. 

Rogers,  Major,  inquiry  concern 
ing,  138. 

Russia,  proposed  cession  to,  84. 

Russians  said  to  be  at  war  with 
Turks,  188. 

Rutledge,  President,  speech  of 
received,  153;  papers  sent, 
158, 


Sagittaire,  ship,  movement  of,  212. 

St.  Glair,  Gen.,  news  from,  172. 

St.  Domingo,  vessels  sail  from,  22. 

St.  Sauveur,  Count,  wounded  at 
a  riot,  227. 

Sailors,  quarrel  among,  at  Boston, 
227. 

Salutes  on  French  alliance,  169. 

Sandy  Hook,  English  fleet  block 
aded,  at,  208 ;  enemy  embark 
ing  at,  204. 

Saratoga,  battle  of,  64 ;  conven 
tion  of  Burgoyne  at,  123. 

Savage,  Mrs.,  death  of,  168. 

Savannah,  attempt  to  recover,  26  ; 
in  hands  of  enemy,  26. 

Scarcity  of  provisions,  126. 


INDEX. 


Schuylkill,  advantages  of  position 
beyond,  83;  army  crossed, 
98;  expedition  crosses  the, 
145;  foraging  near,  94,  95, 
96 ;  foraging  party  captured 
beyond  the,  68;  foraging 
party  crosses,  97  ;  position  of 
bridge  over,  180;  reconnoi- 
tering  beyond,  77;  retreat 
across,  175 ;  vessels  near 
mouth  of,  76. 

Scott,  Gen.,  information  given  to, 
228,  229,  231. 

Seakonnet  passage,  211. 

Seal  of  a  packet,  184. 

Seal  island,  vessel  run  ashore  at, 
233. 

Secretary  of  Baron  Steuben,  148. 

Senate,  proceedings  in,  41,  speech 
of  Mr.  Ilayne  in,  45. 

Sherard's  ferry,  cattle  crossed  at, 
145. 

Shreve,  Col.,  intelligence  from, 
177. 

Shrewsberry  robbed,  58. 

Sickness  in  English  fleet,  226. 

Siege  of  Charleston,  27;  of  Fort 
Mifflin,  75 ;  of  Savannah,  26. 

Slavery,  degrading  tendencies  of, 
115,116,117. 

Slaves  as  soldiers,  108,  114,  115, 
116,  117. 

Sloop  taken,  100. 

Smallwood,  Gen.,  fleet  reported 
by,  152 ;  movement,  of,  99. 

Smith,  Lt.  Col.,  consults  about 
evacuating  Fort  Mifrlin,  75. 

Snuff-box,  presented  by  Louis 
XVI  to  Laurens,  33. 

Soldiers,  slaves  recommended  as, 
108,  114,  115,  116, 117. 

Somerset,  ship,  cannonading  by, 
69,  70. 

Sorties  at  Charleston,  27. 

South  Carolina,  British  attempts 
against,  26 ;  capital  of,  cap 
tured,  27 ;  change  in  consti 
tution  of,  173 ;  Gen.  Lincoln 
retires  to,  26;  limitations  of 
constitution  of,  1 54 ;  papers 
received,  145,  149. 

Southern  department,  active  ope 
rations  in,  24. 

Speech  of  Mr.  Hayne,  45. 

Spies,  intelligence  from,  176,  225. 

Spitfire,  galley,  fire  ship,  212. 


Spurs,  exchange  of,  160. 

Spy,  intelligence  from,  178. 

Stanley,  vessel,  movement  of,  212. 

Staten  Island,  attack  on,  92. 

States,  union  of  the,  90. 

Stephorsts,  letter  from,  at  Am 
sterdam,  151. 

Steuben,  Baron,  begins  duties  of 
inspector  general,  146 ;  cele 
bration  conducted  by,  169  ; 
European  news  received  by, 
188 ;  favorable  opinions  of, 
131,  132,  137,  138;  in  battle 
of  Monmouth,  198,  202 ;  in 
troduced  to  Col.  Laurens, 
130;  jealousies  toward,  186, 
203 ;  letter  of,  sent,  141 ;  mis 
take  concerning  rank  of,  137  ; 
proposed  rank  of,  133 ;  rank 
of,  160 ;  recommended  for 
inspector  general,  132,  138; 
request  for  a  horse  to  be 
given  to,  160 ;  successful 
measures  of,  152. 

Stewart,  Col.,  at  Monmouth,  199. 

Stirling,  Lord,  movement  of  divi 
sion  of,  98. 

Stock,  William,  at" air  at  planta 
tion  of,  37. 

Stormont,  Lord,  attempts  to  de 
tain  vessels,  22. 

Sullivan,  Gen.,  army  under,  218; 
Col.  Laurens  sent  to,  209, 
210;  D'Estaing  offended  at, 
41 ;  delayed  and  prevented  in 
attack  at  Newport,  219  ;  esti 
mate  of  enemy's  forces,  217 ; 
exertions  of,  215 ;  informed 
of  difficulties  of  landing,  219  ; 
march  conducted  by,  95 ; 
plans  of,  210,  211,  217;  un 
lucky  movement  of,  97  ;  visit 
of,  to  French  fleet,  214. 

Sullivan's  bridge,  crossing  at,  174, 
175. 

Sumter,  military  genius  of,  34, 
35. 

Surprise  attempted  by  Capt,  De- 
lancy,  111 ;  by  Moylan's  Dra 
goons,  73;  of  New  York, 
recommended  by  some,  164 ; 
of  pickets  attempted,  127 ; 
surrender  of  Burgoyne,  61, 
65. 

Swede's  ford,  bridge  of  wagons 
at,  97. 


INDEX. 


249 


Sympathy  at  death  of  Laurens, 

38,  39. 
Syuuepuxent,  accounts  from,  56. 


Taxes  upon  luxuries,  remarks  on, 

156. 
Taylors,    Major    superintending 

the,  135. 

Teams,  returns  of,  67. 
Terms  of  Burgoyne's  surrender, 

65. 
Ternaut,  M.,  offers  his  services, 

147. 

Testimonials,  too  free  use  of,  234. 
Tilghman,  Col,  59,  87. 
Tiverton.  movement  of  troops  at, 

211. 

Toilet  articles,  119,125. 
Translations    from    French,   98 ; 

difficulties  in,  105. 
Transports     loading     at     Phila 
delphia,  175,  176. 
Treaty,  French,  terms  unknown, 

179. 
Trenton,     expected     march     of 

enemy  to,  192. 
Troops,   conduct    of,    at    Rhode 

Island,    25 ;    subsistence  of, 

57,  62. 
Trumbull,    Gov.,    Col.    Laurens 

sent  to,  209. 

Trumbull,  Mr., removal  from  com 
missary  department,  126, 127. 
Tryou,  Goy.,  handbill  sent  to,  162. 
Turks,  said  to  be  at  war  with 

Russians,  188. 


Uniform,  clothing  for,  119,  120; 

for  black  battalion,  120. 
Union  of  the  states,  90. 


Valancy,  Lieut.,  letter  by,  63. 

Valentine's  Hill,  enemy  driven  by 
bad  weather  from,  232. 

Valley  Forge,  inferior  quarters 
at,  166;"march  to,  97;  Mar 
quis  de  la  Vienne  at,  203. 

Vannim,  Gen.,  battery  thrown  up 
by,  69,  70;  consulted  on 
evacuation  of  Fort  Mifflin, 
75 ;  dispatches  received  from, 
78;  information  from  letter 
of,  74 ;  reinforced,  73. 

32 


Varnum's  Brigade  at  Monmouth, 
194. 

Vergennes,  M.  de,  22,  43;  influ 
ence  to  action,  33;  Laurens 
introduced  to,  30;  result  of 
application  to,  31,  32. 

Versailles,  Col.  Laurens  at  court 
of,  47. 

Vessel  burnt,  85,  191,  232;  cap 
tured,  73 ;  clear  for  St.  Do 
mingo,  22. 

Vigilant,  ship,  at  Philadelphia, 
178,  191. 

Virginia  accedes  to  articles  of 
confederation,  123. 


Wagons,  returns  of,  67. 

Wampoles,  letter  dated  at,  60. 

War,  doubts  concerning  declara 
tion  of,  by  France,  178 ;  gene 
ral,  expected  in  Europe,  161, 
163. 

Warfare,  character  of,  in  south, 
34,  35,  36. 

Washington,  at  Monmouth,  196, 
197, 198 ;  attentions  bestowed 
upon,  170 ;  conduct  towards, 
170;  confidence  of,  in  Lau 
rens,  41 ;  disagreement  of 
Gen.  Lee  with,  39 ;  dis 
patches  of,  delivered  to 
Count  D'Estaing,  210;  ena 
bled  to  supply  and  till  the 
army,  33 ;  features  of,  138 ; 
insult  ottered  to,  102 ;  Lau 
rens  enters  family  of,  23 ; 
Laureus  rejoins  the  army 
under,  27;  movements  of, 
193;  on  exchange  of  pri 
soners,  122,  123 ;  opinions  of, 
concerning  negro  troops,  117, 
118;  regret  of,  at  death  of 
Laurens,  38;  sends  Laurens 
to  France,  28,  33 ;  success  of, 
against  Cornwallis,  34;  to 
confer  with  Gen.  Gates,  164; 
movement  of  enemy  upon,  96. 

Washington,  Mrs.  allusion  to,  110; 
receives  a  miniature,  138. 

Watch  wanted,  59. 

Water,  scarcity  of,  on  board 
French  fleet,  207. 

Wayne,  Gen.,  at  Monmouth,  199 ; 
expedition  by,  128;  move 
ment  of,  95. 


250 


INDEX. 


Wclford,  Dr.,  intelligence  from, 
188,  189;  left  by  enemy  a 
wiHiug  prisoner,  186 ;  opi 
nions  of,  187. 

West  Indies,  British  supposed  to 
embark  for,  222 ;  expected 
movement  to,  177 ;  expedi 
tion  suggested,  84;  troops 
embarked  for,  228,  231. 

Westminster,  John  Laurens  a 
student  at,  10. 

Weymouth,  Lord,  18. 

Whitemarsh  camp,  95;  letter 
dated  at,  62. 

Wilkinson,  Col.,  promotion  of, 
83. 

Wilmington,  expedition  from, 
128  ;  Gen.  Smallwood  at,  99. 


Winter  campaigns,  91. 

Winter  quarters,  94,  100;  inten 
tions  concerning,  91. 

Women  allowed  to  leave  city,  71. 

Woodberry,  Gen.  Varuum,  sta 
tioned  at,  75. 

Woodford's  Brigade  at  Mon- 
mouth,  197. 


York,  Chevalier  de  Neuville  goes 
to,  110;  Col.  Floury  at,  120; 
Col.  Hartley's  delay  at,  166. 

York  Town,  *  Col.  'Fitzgerald 
passes  through,  119;  Corn- 
wallis  captured  at,  34;  Lau 
rens  at,  44. 


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